Be My Center
by A Million Eyes
Summary: With his birthday coming up in a week, Aoi feels like making dress for himself. Nothing new or special about that, except his priorities got a bit out of lane after he spent one afternoon with a certain apathetic girl that curved his view of things.
1. Prologue

**Prologue:**

**Set in Aoi's POV - not much in character, but I like the dude, so I made his thoughts, in a way, talkative. And don't worry about the future chapters, they're not going to be this wordy.**

**enjoy the prologue for now...**

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"500,000 yen?! Are you kidding me?!"

I asked to no one in particular except to my disbelieving self, as my face leaned flat on the sheet of glass.

Well, it wouldn't make sense to cheapen something as sophisticated as a state of the art sewing name on the box said 'Cloth Bond One Thousand' - what a stupid name.

I looked at my chapped, prickled hand and wondered if it would be worth sacrificing 4 months' worth of lunch money just to buy the darn thing. It would certainly cut my dress-making timeframe in half, and maybe I wouldn't end up with soar fingers in the morning.

Then again, it doesn't really matter, since the means are just as fun for me as the end. So long as I'm able to contribute to the cuteness of this ugly world, it's worth it.

I pushed the detail of the shop into memory. Maybe when I'm not so constricted budget-wise I'll be able to buy it. I spent all my allowance in some high quality materials for my new dress I didn't have enough cash for one lousy snack.

But this sacrifice threatens to be wasted without a descent design, the lack of which has forced me out of my house in search of an inspiration.

Normally, if not making dresses, I'd spend the entire day brandishing my identity as net-idol Aoi. Taking poses, mixing dresses and adjusting colors. Yes, that's right- I'm the center of my own world, and no one can deny me this since every other world out there doesn't except someone like me.

And so my stroll took me to the park, momentarily forgetting the sewing machine, and silently praying it would still be there by the time I get the money.

As I was considering the practicality of it all, I stumbled upon a familiar face – an infuriatingly cute, yet neglected face.

"Are you sure you're going to be alright without me?"

"One-chan, this isn't my first time in a flea market. I'll be fine by myself."

"But there are a lot of dangerous people out here."

"I doubt they'd show up in a public place like this, especially this early in the afternoon."

I ventured closer just to confirm it was in fact the ugly hag. In front of her, someone strangely familiar was kneeling on a sprawled mat, surrounded by a bunch of seemingly worthless stuff.

"Oi, Misaki-chi."

"Aoi-chan!" she gave me a smile as if my presence was pleasant. I gave them both my default scowl, but neither of them seemed affected, since Misaki knows it's who I am, and the younger version of her didn't seem to have any other face than the one that she currently has.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I just helped my sister set up her goods. Oh, perfect timing!" she said, tapping a fist on her palm as an idea seemed to have struck her. I already knew it's going to be bothersome. "Is it okay if you spend the rest of the afternoon with Suzuna?"

"One-chan, that's not necessary."

The girl said, obviously intending to spare me the trouble. But her older sister paid no heed and stepped closer to me.

"Will you please? She can take care of herself, I just want someone to keep her company."

"Okay, but what's in it for me?" I asked, purposely taking a villainous and selfish tone. Misaki should be aware by now that I don't really do things out of kindness.

"Hmmm, good question."

She placed a pair of fingers on her chin as if in deep thought, but I knew she was just toying with me. Okay fine, maybe I can be a nice person sometimes, but that doesn't mean I do things without compensation. Like I said, I'm still the center of my own world.

She finally decided on something and scratched her head, smiling and saying thus: "Nope, couldn't think of any. Oh well, worth the shoot! Suzuna, be home for dinner, okay?"

"Okay. Bye-bye!" the girl blankly bid, waiving at her sister like a cat pawing a string.

"See you around, Aoi-chan!"

In what seemed like a new method of harassment, Misaki leaned towards me and placed a quick kiss on my cheek. It was an unexpected phenomenon, which left me screaming curses at her retreating form while I blushed mad and vigorously wiped the spot where her lips landed, pretending it didn't effect me in the slightest.

Unfortunately it did. That bastard Usui must've told Misaki that I have a crush on her. Sneaky, intuitive jack-a-

"Would you like to buy a bottle of alcohol?"

The bored, disinterested voice cut through my thoughts, and I instantly remembered that someone else was present there.

I gave her a long, good look and considered her appearance as she handed the cheap bottle of alcohol to me.

Age? Probably mine, maybe a year younger. Height? Short, not much to say about that. Figure? Thin, at least judging by how she's seating there, clad in an insulting choice of clothing. I heaved a sigh of frustration – bad taste must run in the family. Complexion? A bit tan, fair, and seemingly – smooth?

No, I did not think her skin looked smooth.

"No thanks." I said.

"How about a can-opener? Or bag of sparkly marbles?"

Seriously? A can-opener?

"No."

"Maybe a pair of second hand shades? It goes well with the sunny days. And also a sunblock to protect your fair skin."

Did she just gave me a compliment?

"Look, I don't want any of your stupid stuff, alright?"

Whether she was slow to process a thought, or considering another sales-pitch was already beyond me. But it was clear in her emotionless eyes that there was something going on in her head. Part of me dreaded the possibility of having offended her, and having to answer to a monstrous older sister in the future, but she didn't say anything. She just looked at me in a very penetrating way, so penetrating in fact that it made me think she was already stripping me in her mind.

The thought made me blush, but it was creepy, so I shove it away quickly.

"Very well." She said, placing the items back on the mat.

Phew, glad that was over.

"How about a discount?"

"I SAID NO!"

God, a few minutes with her and I'm already tired. I shifted between legs for support, not intending to move from where I stood, but not really in the mood to leave. That stupid kiss Misaki gave had a profound effect – it was clearly a reward before the deed, and of course, having received the reward upfront, I'd have to do the deed.

Not that I'd ever consider her un-cute kiss a reward.

While I busied myself with pointless denial, my fellow teen seemed content into staring at me, and in comes that creepy vibe again.

After a while, perhaps noticing my legs getting tired, she started re-arranging her products and made ample space beside her.

"Would you like to sit down?" she asked.

I looked at her incredulously. "Is it for free?"

"Yes."

I struggled in my way towards the allotted space, trying to avoid some of her goods that were located strategically. She seemed content in keeping herself prisoned in a blockade of household products.

Regret and embarrassment soon befell me as I took a lotus seat beside her, and realized that we were shoulder to shoulder.

My eyes cautiously slid sideways to see if there was any trace of discomfort from her. If there was, she wasn't showing it. In fact, she wasn't showing anything at all. All I could see was a blank, unreadable expression without a hint of interest.

-still, it's hard to believe that in that proximity, her face was undeniably pretty, and just by looking at her, I could already confirm, much to my dismay, that her skin is in indeed smooth.

Her own eyes slowly rolled to the side, mimicking the way I was stealing a look at her. I was forced to look away, otherwise she'll think I'm checking her out.

"Are you checking me out?" she asked without even flinching from such question.

"HELL NO!" I said. I could feel my face burn with humiliation.

Before I could further rant on how impossible for me to find interest in her, a customer found its way to our spot. Immediately, her face brightened with the subtlest energy to accommodate.

"How much for the can-opener?" a middle-aged woman asked, after scanning the showcase on the mat.

"600 yen."

"Hm, okay, thanks."

The lady turned around after smiling politely. I felt a sudden, unknown sting in my chest as I watched her walk away. I turned to the person beside me, and saw that her face has slightly dropped.

"Maybe I should lessen the prices."

"Do that, and you'd end up giving everything away for free. If she really needs the opener, she'll come back after checking the other stalls. Just wait."

I didn't know why I said that. Maybe it was the dim chance of a sale that was happening before us – looking at all the stuff, hardly anything would pose a fancy. Still, she clearly placed an effort to preparing them for showcase, and it was just wrong to disregard such effort.

My attempt to console was rewarded with a nod, and a tiny glimmer of hope in her eyes.

"You're name is Suzuna?" I asked, after realizing a missed introduction.

"And you're name is Aoi-chan."

Okay, so much for introduction – we practically introduced the other's name. Not that it mattered.

"Just- Aoi will do. Where did you get all these stuff?"

"Some from our neighbors, the others from school?"

"Others?"

"Confiscated things. Life this swiss knife." She reached towards an elongated, red item and pushed the button.

"Hey! Be careful!" the sharp edge sliced up and cut through her sleeve before I could stop her.

I was immediately in panic mode. The blade was thick, fortunately not rusty, but clearly sharp enough to wound. By instinct, I took hold of the almost severed arm, and found that her clothes did well to protect her skin.

"Ah, my sleeve." She said, not really stating any concern.

"Geez, you're just like your sister."

I was fingering the damage on her clothes when a university student passed by and caught sight of the utility in Suzuna's hand.

"Hey! How much for that swiss knife?"

The girl looked at him blankly, then at the item. Finally, she answered.

"It's eight hundr- "

"900 yen." I entered before she could finish. "900 yen, still negotiable."

She looked at me with the same poker face, but I could tell she wasn't expecting my interference.

"900 yen? That thing's second hand! 800 yen." The guy rebutted.

"875. Look, it's still sharp."

The ripped clothing served a purpose as I raised Suzuna's arm. It made our customer reconsider the value.

"Fine, 850 then."

Suzuna's face finally showed a clear sign of happiness. "One swiss knife: sold."

Subtle, a bit mediocre, but clear, and that worked well enough for both of us, as we exchanged knowing grins and concluded our first transaction.

"Everything has value. We just have to key in the right amount." I said, pertaining more on the value of her effort into setting up and prepping her things for sale.

And just like that, I was absorbed into her flimsy, little business. It didn't add confidence to the impossible, because clearly, there is no way we're selling all of these, but at least that drove a bit more resolve in her. I'm not much into business, but I know the value of effort.

"Hey look, it's the fag!"

My head snapped towards the source of such painfully familiar statement, and immediately, I felt my stomach turn as a gang of spiteful childhood figures made their way towards our spot.

They were my classmates during my early elementary days, and they are the reason why I started hating the world.

"How's it going, Aoi-chan? Still trying to look cute?"

"I heard you were caught making a girly dress again."

"Really, that's so gross! What kind of guy would have dress-making as a hobby."

"I know, right? It's like he hasn't changed since 2nd grade."

"I bet he even put make-up on, sneaking up into his mom's closet and all that."

Of all the people to see me in public, it had to be them. Of course, like hell I would care what they're saying. I'm tired of justifying myself to people. I'm tired of defending my preferences.

But despite all my efforts to shield my heart from things like this, I still hurt inside – it's not like I wanted to like cute things – I just do. Maybe if I have a choice, I'd prefer to like something else, something manlier and more acceptable by society.

My subconscious pushed all those thoughts deeper, while my body did its reflex of curling up in a ball. The good thing about this sort of things is that it never lasts forever. I just have to hold up for as long as I could.

Misaki would probably scold me for not standing up to these guys. I wouldn't mind- I do need a bit of scolding, especially with how proud and haughty I act in front of those who accept me, while I stay meek and helpless before those who attack me.

This is why I'm the center of my own world – every other person out there is just plain nasty.

"Would you like to buy a bottle of alcohol?"

Crap, I forgot about her!

She can't seriously be thinking about going against these jerks.

"Who the hell are you? And why in the world would I buy your stupid product?" the tallest one inquired.

"Probably a hobo looking for some loot." Another commented.

"She's probably selling some worn out and badly spoiled stuff."

"Crazy girl! Hahahaha!"

"No way I'm buying anything from you."

"Suzuna, seat down, don't mind these guys." I whispered, hoping she'd pay heed. I tugged at her pants in a beckon of her attention.

"Would you like to buy a bottle of alcohol?" she asked again, still emotionless and blank.

Okay, that's definitely going to annoy them.

She was holding the bottle with both hands and, if I was looking at her posture correctly, she seemed to be aiming the mouth on the group.

"Are you a retard or something? I said I'm not going to - AHHHHH!"

I looked up and saw a hideous looking something slithered wildly out of the bottle Suzuna was holding. I couldn't even describe how horrible it looked – something stuck between a snake, and a lizard, and put in some horns and a very nasty blend of putrid green for a color, and you'll have something worth screaming about, especially if it's coming out of a harmless bottle of alcohol.

It was clearly a toy, or a gear intended for a prank, and damn did she pull this one real good.

"Get that thing away from me!"

He almost begged in that squeaking voice, but Suzuna just inched the wriggling, thing closer, squeezing the bottle tither to add more pressure and thus add more life on her hideous weapon.

"What the hell is that?!"

"Holy shiii- aghh"

Those who were too shocked to be able to make a rational response stumbled on a bunch of marbles 'miraculously' scattered on the ground behind them, disabling what little sense of balance they have.

"The hell is going on!"

As the four junior high students scrambled to their feet- stumbling and falling on top of each other, the spectators around us laughed at the comic scene. I for one found the expression on their faces hilarious, and chuckled at their retreating, cursing forms. Suzuna was still holding the bottle and was looking at the running boys without even the tiniest hint of interest or humor. I, in turn was looking up at her, thankful, amazed, and a bit scared now knowing that she is actually full of surprises.

I can't let the poker face fool me anymore.

"Thanks." I whispered, purposely saying it soft enough not to be heard.

"Bullies. They're everywhere. If only they can also be paying customers." She sat, sighed, and turned thoughtful at the idea.

While she retracted the dreadful arsenal back to its deceptively harmless form, I took the chance to look at her again, this time, I admitted, I was clearly checking her out, though not in a sneaky, perverted way.

I found the sparkle in her bored eyes to be unusually gem-like, as if there was something glistening there, something not normally seen in everyday people. It was concealed under a yellow coating of mysterious amber – secretive, and incredibly beautiful.

"Are you-?"

"No, I am not checking you out." I answered, even before she could finish the question. This time, though, I had no defensive mechanism functioning, just a blatant rejection, and a subtle admittance to myself that she, like her sister, is undeniably cute, although her own version of cuteness is hidden behind numerous deviations, specifically those found in her eyes.

A very small patch of pink found its way on each of her cheeks, and it made me snicker. That maybe a button worth pressing.

You may have a lot of tricks up your sleeve, girl, but I know weakness when I see one.

Speaking of sleeve –

"Have you got a needle, or anything thin and pointy?" I asked, looking all around me for some useful stuff.

"I have a safety pin."

"That'll do, give me."

"200 yen."

"Ugh, for crying out loud! I'll fix your sleeve. Just give me the pin."

"But you said everything has value." She declared blankly, holding the bundle of safety pins away from my reach as if I would snag it from her.

"It's not always monetary value. You give me the pin, I'll fix your shirt, and we'll call it square. Regular transaction."

Her head tilted slightly to the side, still showing no sign of comprehension. That, or she's an expert at utilizing such a clueless countenance.

Those eyes of hers were drilling into mine again in such a critical fashion. I decided there was no point being susceptible to it, or to whatever schemes being formulated in her head while she looks at me, so I simply stared back.

After a few minutes she finally chose to cooperate, and handed the bundle over.

I pulled a pin, plucked three strands of my hair to form a thread, and started doing what I do best. The cheap fabric felt worn out of years, most probably a handmedown type of clothing.

Even without looking, I could tell she was staring at me again, or at least on what I was doing.

I took a quick glance and saw she really was looking at me that is. My cheeks suddenly felt warm.

"If you're going to ask whether what they said back there is true or not, then the answer is yes, I do make dresses."

"Mm." she hummed an acknowledgement, and that was it. I felt a vein snap at the back of my neck with such poor reaction. I was actually hoping for more than that.

Surely, she's keeping something in her mind she didn't want me to hear – isn't she?

"And by dress, I meant extravagant and colorful dresses that only girls wear."

"I see."

Another vein snapped. I almost punctured myself after that second disinterested reply.

"And after that, I'll put on the dress, take pictures from different angles and post them on the web."

"Good for you, then."

"Oh come on! You're supposed to freak out a little!" I said loudly, letting go of her.

She simply gave another wordless stare and applied a clear question mark on that ridiculously blank face.

"Why?"

"Why?" I returned the question, completely disbelieving that someone other Misaki and Usui could make such unconcerned reactions. I get it – stupid must also run in the family. "Because – because it's weird, and gross, and not normal."

"Hm, define normal." She demanded gently.

"Well, um, normal would be something acceptable to society, something people would find easier to accept."

"So it's relative." She said. It was my turn to be confused.

"What?"

"It's relative. If it's normal because of how others see, then it's relative to the judgment of others. If it is, it will always be subject to change, and you'd always have to re-quantify the amount you put in its value. That said, normal doesn't have any real value, because you cannot key in a definitive amount to quantify it."

"…huh?"

Did I say stupid? I meant crazy – what the hell is she blabbering about.

"Simply put," she continued, probably smelling my burnt brain cells, "If it's normal, it would hardly have any value."

I reconsidered the idea, and gave her a sly grin. This is probably her version of an attempt to console.

"What are you saying?" I asked.

"Make dress, wear it, look pretty in it – if it's you, then do it. The world will change, and people too. We can't always expect people to accept us. And if you ask me, we don't need them too. It's a bit cliché, but if being a freak means being who you are, then we should just all be freaks."

Her face brightened for the second time that day, and I had this gut feeling I was witnessing a very rare occurrence in the history of mankind – Suzuna was actually smiling. It's not like I know her or anything, but something tells me this doesn't normally happen.

But smile she did, as she gazed at the mended part of her shirt, running her fingers on the clear, navy blue stitches.

"Don't tug at it too much. It's just a temporary fix." I took hold of her hand and re-examined my work. She doesn't seem to be as brutish as her sister, so this should hold out for a couple of days, or at least until she puts it in the laundry.

"Maybe you can make a permanent one for me." she said, hesitation playing in her voice a bit.

"Not a chance."

It was just a default reply. I don't always mean it. I say it when someone is asking me for a favor and I was being given a chance to prove myself to others.

"You're skilled. Why don't you sell your work?"

"I'm not interested in making doe. And, in my opinion, neither should you."

Her thin, solemn lips spoke as I let her go, crocked lines having secured the chasm of her shirt.

"I – I want to buy something."

"Is that so?"

"One-chan told me I'm always looking after our family's well-being. She said I need to do something for myself for a change. She said – I can't always put her and mom in the center of my life."

I wish someone could tell me that.

"That's why – I want to buy something for myself."

There was more power in her words than what volume of her voice or the expression of her face projected.

"I see. So all of this is for yourself?"

"No, I mean yes, I mean – I don't know."

"What do you mean you don't know? You just said you want to buy something, right?" my tone got sharper as my patience got thinner.

"I do, but I have to help in the household too. I have to get some old catalogues and cut promotional stubs, and coupons, I have to win that basket of vegetables in the market contest, or at least that 10 kilos of rice for a consolation prize, I have to save every penny to buy medicine just in case mom gets sick, or if one-chan gets fired for some reason, and I have to-"

"Stop." I said, holding up a palm on her. "Let me ask you something: what was the last thing you did for yourself?"

She cocked her head at me again – I was beginning to find that annoying… mainly because i was starting to think it was cute how she did it – whatever.

"I joined a contest."

My forehead met with my palm in defeat and frustration. "Ugh, okay, let's settle with that. What kind of contest?"

"A contest to win a prize."

I felt another vein burst. Should I really keep asking, or should I just strangle her, right here, right now.

"What kind of prize?" I managed to ask patiently.

"All sorts of prizes."

"BE MORE SPECIFIC!"

Several people turned to our direction after that rather loud command. I cleared my throat and straightened my posture.

"Ahem, sorry… So, did you win?"

"Of course I did." She said as if she was stating a fact.

"Great. What did you won?"

"All sorts of prizes."

"YOU SAID THAT ALREADY! Kami-sama -" I could real feel my head aching at this point, and the sad truth is I don't even know why I'm bothering with this girl, "Look, can you just tell me what you go out of the contest?"

She turned her head towards the sky and placed a finger on her chin in some sort of memory juggle. She certainly took her time, but after a while, she finally returned to me with an answer.

"I got eight boxes of soy-sauce, and - some other stuffs."

What the hell kind of a prize is that?

"Ooookay – other than soy-sauce, what were those other stuffs?"

I was under the impression that she couldn't remember them, so she just generalized. But then she gave me her answer.

"Towels, tissue papers, French seasoning, kitchen knives, a spatula, a grinder, a blender, a can opener, 3 frying pans, 3 bottles of cooking oil, a bag of jumping beans, a pair of straw dolls, a dozen ball of yarn, a packet of matches, 8 sets of spoons and forks, a kilo of apples, a kilo of peaches, 9 grams of peanut, a bushel of grapes, 3 boxes of pencils, a notebook, a directory with the 1968 listing, 250gm of coffee, 2 bottles of antiseptic, and can of hairspray."

"…"

It was my turn to stare at her without a clear emotion on my face. I couldn't even remember in which part my sanity froze.

"Wow." I simply said, failing to process my real sentiments. It wasn't actually awe, it was more like 'wow, the world is going nuts.'

"In the end, you didn't really win anything, did you?"

"What do you mean? Those were a lot." She said, furrowing her eyebrows – and no, that isn't enough to be considered as a real facial expression.

"I'd say, but none of that is actually for you. I mean, those were just random stuff people give away because no one else wanted to get them. What your sister is trying to say is: you need to have something that you can call your own, something you worked hard for, something that isn't necessarily useful."

"If it's not useful, then what's the point of having it?"

I couldn't help but feel sorry for her – not out of real pity, nor was I looking down at her at this point, but she's missing out a lot in life.

"You'll have it, because it's meaningful."

"Meaningful?" she repeated.

My lips involuntarily curved up into a grin I normally don't show to people, but the conversation was making me aware of many things. I opened up my hands and gazed at the badly scared fingers. The marks were as a pale as my skin so it was hardly noticeable, but they were clearly there, especially if you have a feel of my palm - something Suzuna suddenly did and, much to my surprise, something I allowed her to do.

"Your hands." She said, almost with a gasp, almost hinting concern. I assume 'almost' is the closest she can get to expressing herself.

At first, she was simply tracing her finger on my palm as if doodling with invisible ink. Then, as if it was a specimen rarely seen, she pulled both my hands closer to her.

"It's not easy making dresses, but I love making them. They're hardly of any use, but they hold great meaning for me, because they remind me that even though people don't accept me for who I am, I can still be true to myself."

Her own hand was warm, and soft, and gentle in its investigative touch. She rubbed a thumb over an ugly scar brought by a clumsy handling of a blade when I was four.

"Listen, whatever it is you want to buy, you buy it. Saving money for what you want isn't exactly being selfish. Besides, if I heard correctly, your mom's health has been improving a great deal, and Misaki is gaining good scholarship points to a university, which should take care of her educational worries."

Our eyes got linked into a silent stare. She's really good at looking at people, to the point where it didn't seem bothersome anymore to return her manner of looking.

"Alright." She said, giving me another warm smile.

The sun was starting to set. People around us were beginning to conclude their businesses, and knowing my aunt she would probably be asking dad where I am. I gently pulled my hand away from her hold and stood up.

"Well, I better get going."

"Mm." she nodded, watching me dust off and straighten my pants.

It was disheartening to know she sold only one item today. She didn't seem affected by it though. By the looks of it, this whole flea market thing is probably a farce to play along with what Misaki is asking her to do.

"How much for the comb?"

The signature tilt of her head questioned my sales-inquiry.

"How much for the comb? I'm going to buy it."

"I thought you don't want any of my stupid stuff." She said with a mild tease in her soft tone.

"Yeah, well, after seeing that bottle of alcohol spew out a creature from another dimension, maybe some of your stupid stuff can come in handy."

She picked the item from its spot, looked up at me, long and hopeful, and then handed me the plastic comb with the following qualifications.

"I'll give it to you. Just come here tomorrow."

That was a surprise.

"Don't be an idiot. You can't afford to give away you're things at the rate your selling."

"I'm not giving it away. I'm selling it, but not with a monetary value."

I scratched my head, thinking the entire thing was a bit ridiculous. I was trying to help her out, but she's being too sentimental. Well, I guess meeting a new friend has its worth, and comb for a price of a company isn't such a bad deal.

"Very well." I said, taking the comb from her hand.

"One comb: sold." She triumphantly said, though still not without apparent glee that I suspect was supposed to come with it.

I guess I would have to satisfy myself with this item, along with a smile which I think is as rare and true as it is beautiful.

"I – I'll bring my sewing kit tomorrow. Let's put a permanent fix on that horrible shirt you're wearing."

"Okay."

It was already dark when I got home.

The fabric lying untouched on the long table in my room reminded me of how tiring the entire day had been – tiring, and pointless. I was supposed to find inspiration for my new dress, a design to blow everyone way, but instead I ended up with nothing than a drained out brain.

Okay, maybe not completely pointless, since I did manage to make a friend, if you'd actually call her that. And for some reason, I was actually looking forward to tomorrow.

I threw my legs up and made a quick leap towards the waiting fabric, wondering if the encounters of the day would bring me closer to a design.

I held the hem of the primer with two fingers, feeling the quality softness and glazy texture of it, and closed my eyes in search of an idea that could give form to it.

My sight was in darkness, but my mind saw clear – I saw yellow, gold, bright amber, sunlit shade of glistening color, seemingly exuberant, yet hiding a mystery behind it's brightness. The form must then be simple, yet well made. It shouldn't have to scream to stand out, but just whisper a soft tune of unadulterated beauty. It will be slim-fit, to coat the body under a perfect figure – no ruffles, no flowers, maybe a slit on the side to expose the smooth skin of her long legs. A bit daring, yes, but also suggestive of secrets begging to be discovered.

- secrets under a deviation of an unreadable face, reflected behind a pair of glimmering, curious orbs –

My eyes shot open just when I finally decided what my new dress was going to look like. I looked down and saw in my hand not the fabric which I thought I was holding, but a plastic comb.

My heart was racing wildly, my forehead slightly drenched with sweat. I felt so excited, so thrilled, my mind was swimming under a vision of cloth and thread. This is the inspiration I was looking for.

The only problem is – it's supposed to be MY dress, but why did I see HER in it?

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prologue ends... too long? sorry, but it's been a while since I saw a rather cute couple that aren't directly paired up, but by theme, are certainly perfect for each other.

please review and tell me what you think. I'm going to try and post the shorties on a regular basis. it's going to be an easy read, so look forward to it!

thanks for reading


	2. Monday's Measurement

**Here's an update!**

**Thanks to Padfoot Starfyre and Sapphire Drizzle for the reviews, and the ideas. Do you guys think that Misaki and Aoi would play well for a story? Of course not a serious type of romance. I got another idea with that, but whatever…**

**Sapphire, looking forward to your letter D! Might I suggest 'Denial'? hehehe!**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Maid-Sama

Chapter 1: Monday's Measurement

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His foul mood had reached near breaking point, which was painfully clear as he stomps his way on the sidewalk.

All night long, he was trying to envision the potentials of his new dress, but instead of himself, that darn, apathetic girl's figure would pop up in his mind.

"Speak of the devil." He said, seeing the same girl standing in front of a shop.

He was about to call her out, when he saw how intently she was gazing at something. His face crumpled into a concentrated scowl as he took the opportunity to stare at her.

She's the reason why he couldn't think straight last night, and it was driving him to maddening fury.

When he had walked near enough, he knew she was aware he was there, but she remained unmoving, several paper bags in each hand, and a large back pack behind her.

'What's with that huge bag?' he thought.

Today, Suzuna has decided to wear something less rugged than yesterday's cargo pants, which wouldn't have been sufficient for Aoi if he didn't think skirts look best on, curvy, slim figures – like the ones she had.

"Are you checking me out?" she asked without looking. He immediately averted his eyes.

"Will you quit asking that question? I'm never gonna be interested in you. Speaking of interests, is that the thing you want to buy?"

Even though he said that, he was still a bit red when he took the bags bundled in her right hand.

"Yes."

They were looking at a silver necklace bracing a blue cube-shaped gem as a pendant.

"Ocean Thoughts." Aoi read the label, "The name fits you."

"The 'Thought' part?" Suzuna asked indifferently.

"No, the 'Ocean' part. It's deep, it's scary, and full of surprises – just like you." he said, grinning mischievously like the devil that he is.

"So you think I'm deep?"

"No, I think you're scary."

The teasing didn't work as Suzuna just stood there, still looking at her prize. In her yellow orbs Aoi could see a grave desire, almost an incomprehensible need.

She really wants that necklace.

Beside the label was tag with digits that made Aoi's jaw drop.

"700,000 yen – goodness!" he said loudly, "Well, good luck affording that."

It was easy for him to turn his back on that sewing machine from yesterday because he knew he'd never have the money - not in a million years. It was easier to turn his back from something that another person wants.

It would be troublesome to spend more time of the day with her than with his dress, considering how far he still has to go with the design, but he just couldn't bring himself to peel her from that shop-window.

Eventually, frustration took its toll. She heaved a deep sigh, and then walked with Aoi to the park.

'I wonder what she's thinking right now.' Aoi told himself.

Neither spoke during their peaceful venture. One was too cautious and suddenly too sensitive to rant about pointless rudeness like he normally does, the other too – passive, which is how she normally is.

They reached the park, earlier than expected, and started setting things up.

"Did you bring it?" the boy asked, spreading the mat on the grassy ground.

"Bring what?"

"Your ripped shirt."

"Ah yes. I brought them all."

"All?"

Suzuna slammed that huge backpack in the middle of the mat and started pulling out carefully folded shirts, each having tolerated some sort of ruthless damage. That impossible price earlier turned pale at how disbelieving Aoi was.

"Wh- what's all these?!"

"My ripped shirts." She said, unaffected by his accusing tone.

"I said I'd fix your ripped SHIRT, and that goes without an 'S' at the end!"

-stare –

"Oh." She said. After a thought-filled pause, her eyes lit up a bit. "Won't you please fix my other shirts, then?"

"Hah!" proud and haughty Aoi crossed his arms, "Why should I? What's in it for me?"

"I'll give you a kiss." She immediately answered, plainly, boorishly, as if she was expecting that self-centered question.

The boy stumbled back at the offer, face turning into a wreck of flusters and crumpling into a defensive, growling expression, "Wh—wh! I don't – ugh, why would I want a k-k-kiss from you?!"

"One-chan kissed you yesterday, and you ended up doing what she asked. I thought you liked being kissed."

"I don't, especially not by un-cute girls like you!"

"If I was to dress nicely, would let me kiss you? Then you can fix my shirts."

He was infuriated, embarrassed, and mentally tortured, "Agghh! No, never! You'd never look cute in any dress anyway!"

'That was mean.' He thought.

There was a momentary pause after that, with passersby giggling at the sight of them.

"Okay." The girl seemed to have resigned, but whether she felt bad about it was hardly apparent, and this Aoi considered incredibly annoying.

"Give me that."

He snagged the original shirt in concern, and slumped down on the corner of the mat, giving space to the stack of clothes waiting for him.

"Thank you, Ao-"

"Shut up! Don't you say another word." He growled, face still tainted with rosy colors, attending diligently with a threaded needle already in hand.

Suzuna had just finished pouring out the contents of the bags for showcase, when a customer miraculously made its way.

"Hello there! Is the can opener still available?" asked the lady with a familiar face.

Aoi felt a smirk form on his face as Suzuna stole a glance at him, probably to affirm yesterday's info, before she cheerfully (at least as cheerful as passively possible) concluded her first transaction for the day.

Save for the bustling, thickening crowd, nothing happened after that.

There was something comforting about the soft, quiet air, considering the fine weather and the cozy breeze. Suzuna, careful in the presentation of her goods and answering inquiries as rare as they come, while Aoi quietly attending to her abused clothes.

"Ouch!" he hissed, sucking on a punctured thumb.

"Ah -" she wanted to attend to him, but the seriousness on his face warned her otherwise.

Looking closer, she noticed he was already on his 5th piece of clothing, the finished ones having been neatly folded on the corner. Closer still, she saw a face that wasn't as serious as it was vibrant, his breath turning into soft tunes of exhales, eyes concentrated and lips parted slightly.

Having stripped his face of that signature scowl has allowed Suzuna to fancy his handsome features, and his skillful hands.

"W-w-w-w-what - " Suzuna turned around to check on such panicky stutter, and saw the boy holding up a rather intimate garment. "What the hell is this?!"

Aoi asked, holding up a piece like it was a dangerous object, face transforming into a cherry again.

"Bloomers."

"I know that! Why did you put it in here?!"

"Because it is ripped." She said as void of emotions as ever, confused as to why the person in front of her was shaking while holding her elementary gym shorts.

"Do you have a sharp butt, or something? How do you actually rip clothing this skimpy?"

Aoi reluctantly spread the bloomers further and saw an ugly strip of space by the side of the hem. Anyone could tell it was clearly from something sharp and pointy.

"It was in a school trip. We were hiking. I tripped by the ledge, rolled down a cliff, and got stuck on a stump."

Stuck on stump – that didn't sound so pleasant, especially if you're wearing bloomers.

"Would you like to see the scar?" she offered, inching up the edge of her skirt.

"Have you no shame, woman?"

The impulse to conserve whatever delights hiding under that skirt of hers drove Aoi to lean forward quickly and push her hand down, otherwise she'd lift the clothing and show such 'evidence' which is dangerously close to – something he thought he didn't want to see. Note the 'he thought' part.

As always, impulse lead to surprises – in their case, an uncomfortable proximity of their faces and his hands pressed down firm on her soft ones.

Neither dared blink. Both too attached to the foreign warmth of their breaths combined. Both suddenly absorbed into whatever they're seeing in each other's eyes – sapphire of honest, and expressive energy, and amber of mysterious, warm serenity.

"Aoi-chan," she whispered.

It tickled his nose like morning dew.

'Ah, she smells nice.' He thought, eyes fluttering close, defeated and hypnotized from her glimmering orbs.

"You're a pervert."

"SHUT UP!"

He threw himself back in his less awkward and less embarrassing corner, trying to shake away the hotness of his face and the memory of mint and cinnamon mixing oddly well in his nostrils courtesy of her breath.

Distraction would be the best recourse, and the decision to spend another afternoon with her narrowed down the choice to what she has bought for him, so he continued mending her clothes, one after the other, careful and conscious of every pull he made, every subtle, artful thrust of that needle. Despite his concentration though, accuracy would fall short of saving him from clumsy accidents.

He had injured himself several times already. Suzuna could tell as much with how swollen his hands were. But his resilience suggests he is use to this sort of self-infliction.

Still-

"Hey, what are you doing?" Aoi asked as Suzuna started folding the unattended clothes and piling them up neatly.

"You can stop now." she said.

He's indifferent to favors, and although he didn't like leaving things half-finished, it wasn't as if he asked to stich up her clothes in the first place.

"You're weird, you know that? You ask me to do your clothes for you, and now- "

She laid her furrowed gaze on his red, blood stained hands.

"You're hurting." Said the stoic girl.

The boy blinked his eyes at her, unfamiliar with being an object of concern, especially a girl's concern. He didn't know how to react. He couldn't even throw a single jerky remark. He just sat there, watching her move in such slow and graceful manner.

"Weirdo." He mumbled, and then stood up. "Well, if that's that, then I might as well get going."

"Why?" she asked, bored, plain and indifferent, but for some reason, Aoi could make out a hint of something in her eyes. Something close to a sudden, heavy sentiment, almost like sadness.

"If I'm not going to work on something, I'll just home. I have better things to do."

This time, there was definitive regret on her solemn face, dropping and thoughtful.

"Oh. But -"

"But what?" he asked, wondering if she wanted him to stay.

There was an obvious dilemma in her shoes, a choice between giving him a prickling reason to stay, or saving him from additional scars and letting him leave. But she eventually reached a decision.

"Nothing. I guess I'll see you, then."

"Yeah, I guess."

"Thanks for staying with me and fixing my shirts."

"I didn't get to finish them anyway, so don't thank me yet. And I only stayed because of our, um, transaction."

"If I give you another item, will you come again tomorrow?"

"Maybe," he said, grinning down at her, "but I don't want any of your stuff, so I don't think I'll be coming back."

"How about a kiss then?" she said, and was about to lean up and tease him some more, but Aoi turned his back with a grunt.

"Who the hell would like a kiss from a weird girl like you?" he said, crossing his arms and containing his blush, "I'm going. See yah."

"Okay. Bye."

Even before taking the first step out of the mat, he found himself turning his head to look back at her. She was kneeling there, head tilted in question of his hesitation, and gazing up with hopeful eyes. Aoi grumbled, unable to deny how mesmerizing her eyes were, even through blank stares like that.

"Hey," he said in a forceful, low voice, "Don't – um, don't let the sunset catch you here, okay?"

"Are you worried about me, Aoi?"

"No!"

He lied, but he'd die first before admitting that he was in fact worried about leaving her all by herself. But that's the end of it, he thought, so he made a quick dash home before he could get a closer look at how she smiled with that last question, because he knew he'd be thinking about her later on, and that may not leave much room for his beloved dress.

When he got home, his heart was still racing, but not from the run, but from an excitement. This was the feeling last night before he envisioned his dress.

Without even thinking about it, he took a clean sheet of paper and began drafting his dress. Yesterday's pattern, the angle of the curves, the slit, he decided to go for it, even though his previous dresses never really showed much skin.

'Who cares?' he thought, as he sketched away with his pencil in hand.

By the time he was done, his hand was already complaining – after being butchered with stitching and then pressured by sketching, who wouldn't? but he couldn't afford to care about that, because on the sheet of paper was roughly drawn his new dress. He was grinning like a triumphant child and panting for his breath. Ignoring the soft stains of red from widened wounds, he lifted the draft up.

"This is it, the cutest dress I will ever make. It's perfect! It's ingenious! It's like nothing I have ever seen! It's - wrong…"

Indeed, upon closer look, something was different, specifically with the sizes. He didn't have that thin of a waistline, and that space by the chest area is not necessary. His shoulders were broad, so the line by the arm is wrong.

And then it dawned to him – he sketched down his design with a girl's vital statistics. The question is why and how?

"It- it can't be."

After handling all those clothes, her body size, indeed each and every corner of her body, has become imprinted in his head, without his consideration, without him even knowing it. The fitting would be wrong for him, but, hesitantly, when he tried to imagine her on that dress, it was –

"AGGGHHH! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!"

The prospect of his new dress, at least as far as being a cross-dresser is concerned, has grown from dim, to virtually pitch black.

Because now, he would have to ask why Suzuna looked perfect in the dress that was supposed to be for him.

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To be continued

I hope you enjoyed that!


	3. Tuesday's Turn-around

**Update time!**

**Here's a rather unlikely event - a bit cliche too, but I trust you'll enjoy reading it!**

**Thanks to all that reviewed and, erm, favourited (eh?) - look forward for more in the future!**

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Disclaimer: I don't own Maid-Sama

Chapter 2: Tuesday's Turn-around

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"How do you get people out of your head?"

The tall, blonde teen looked at the bluenette, surprised to catch him in those rare occasions when he's not cos-playing. He took a slight sip of his coffee before speaking nonchalantly, "I rape them, or I kill them. Either way, they'll be out of sight, out of mind."

Indeed, very professional. At least Aoi has verified one thing – that Usui is, in fact, really weird.

"You're asking the wrong question." the blonde continued, turning his newspaper. "Why is that person inside your head in the first place?"

"I – I don't know. Maybe because she's one of the few people who-"

"She? So it's a girl." A small smirk formed.

"Yeah, so what if it is?"

"Nothing. Is she cute?" Usui asked, hinting a tease.

Aoi was quick to retract and raise his hand in defense. "No, she is definitely not cute!"

"I see. That means you don't like her."

"Um, well, not that I don't - "

"So you like her, then?"

"NO! Ugh, why does that matter?" his honest face was burning with a blush, something Usui noted to be a striking similarity he has with Misaki.

He didn't answer immediately, but just took his time objectifying the lad into a flustered disaster.

Not only is Usui introspective, he is also capable of causing severe chaos in any foreseeable future. So being the devil that he is, he decided to point Aoi to a specific direction – not necessarily the right one.

"Do something for her." He then continued.

"Eh? Like what?"

"Anything. You've always been focusing on yourself. Now that someone has entered the picture, you get rattled. And she probably has something that you don't. At the least, doing her a favor or a kind deed would put your mind at ease."

The net idol processed the thought out of caution. He stared him down with a tiger's flaming stare.

Unfortunately, that didn't have any effect. Usui is more than used to Misaki's death glares so his won't be of par.

"Well, that's stupid." He decided, "What's the point of doing that when I actually want to get rid of her?"

"You can't force her out. You have to know why she's there, and then you can be rid of her. Although I have a feeling that at the end of the day, you wouldn't even want to."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. It's an advise, take it or don't."

Seeing as there seemed to be more boredom than seriousness from him, he decided to just save the details in memory and head out – not that there was much to consider from what he said in the first place.

Good thing he missed Usui's devious snicker.

'This is going to be fun.'

* * *

Grrrrrr…..

"Ugh, I picked a good day to skip lunch."

He completely forgot why he was in Maid Latte in the first place. Now he's walking by the sidewalk, rubbing his twisting stomach.

Aoi is never one to be conscious of life's necessities, primarily because his family is well-off. But that doesn't mean his father is as tolerant as he is capable of making money. The middle-aged man has narrowed the boy's weekly allowance to the point where buying high quality fabric would be impossible without sacrificing a few meals.

-but passion is all about sacrifice -

"One croquette please."

That familiar voice reached his ear, accompanied by the delicious smell of simmering breadcrumbs that tickled his nostrils.

In front of a bakeshop just a block ahead, a girl with a terrible choice for clothes was standing. She had in one hand a paper bag filled with what look like a bunch of magazines.

Aoi felt a sudden warmth scattering throughout his body. He thought it was the hunger, or something similarly irrelevant.

"Oi." He called out and walked towards the girl.

She turned, and then, recognizing the boy, suddenly got a sparkle in her eyes that could be considered delight.

If it was from delight, Aoi didn't seem to share it – at least not consciously.

Before truth could begin twisting his tongue, he decided to give himself a head start.

"You are so not cute." He suddenly said as he finally stood in front of her. "I don't like you at all."

Anyone else would have cringed and returned an attack, but not Suzuna. She just stared at him, unreadable and unyielding. Aoi's offense bounced back to him, and he suddenly became annoyed.

"You are just like your sister! You wear the cheapest kind of clothing without any consideration for your lack of fashion and taste, and you don't mind the way you behave! There is no trace of elegance or even a hint of lady-like demeanor, plus your stagnant look is practically screaming 'FREAK'! You are an abomination to all that is cute!"

_Do something for her._

At the end of his rant, Aoi was practically panting. He didn't even know why he went that far.

But there was yet to be a reaction from Suzuna. It was as if his words were just bouncing off a wall.

Aoi wondered if he should start making his apology. His honesty made the best of him again, but he couldn't help it, especially with how rugged she looked under a pair of pants and a sweatshirt, the neck of which is making her look like a turtle –

- a rather cute turtle – with cheeks crimsoned by the cold weather – ahhh, refreshing –

Luckily, he wasn't that honest.

"Here." Suzuna shoved the packet of baked bread on him.

The boy snapped back into the real world and found himself holding a croquette. "Hey, I don't want any -"

"One more order, please." Suzuna attention was already with the baker.

After a couple of minutes, she got herself another packet, and then looked back at the puzzled boy. She then started walking, and Aoi started following.

"For the record, I didn't ask you to treat me." he said, a pace behind her.

"You're welcome." Suzuna said, eyes far off without the slightest concern.

"Tch, weirdo."

Her small body (slender, even under the rugged outfit), didn't make the lad comfortable, so he quickened his stride until he was walking alongside.

He then snagged the paper bag from her hand.

They reached the familiar setting of the park, and sat on a bench.

"No sale today, huh?" Aoi asked, after swallowing a mouthful.

"The flee market's closed."

"I see."

There was a stark difference between their eating manners. Aoi was messy with his munches while Suzuna was meager in her bites. The girl looked at him, and noticed how heartily he was eating.

'He must really be hungry.'

She had barely eaten half of hers by the time he was finished

"I'm a bit stuffed from lunch. Would you like to have mine?" she lied, and offered her share.

Aoi studied her. There was nothing worth being suspicious about, especially since that blatantly blank face of hers holds very little room with which to hide a scheme.

"Yeah, okay."

He took the packet from her hands and was about to take the first bite of his second round, when he caught her looking at him. Nothing new about that, except she had that glimmer in her eyes again, like when she first held his hands to gaze at his scars.

"Thank you for the food." He whispered, eyes turning shamefully on the ground. "And sorry about what I said."

"You're welcome, and it's okay."

"So what do you do when you're not out selling your stuff?" he asked before masticating on the bread-snack.

"Trying to win prizes."

'Oh yeah, that.'

He mentally slapped himself for forgetting her weird hobby, not that he was the one to talk.

"Did you win anything today?"

"I did, but not the one I wanted."

She pulled out a black, rectangular thing from the paper bag and placed it on her lap. It was roughly the size of a shoebox and was decorated with diminutive yet elegant linings.

"That looks expensive. What is it?"

"A make-up set."

Aoi forced down his throat a chewed up last bite, otherwise it would have jettisoned out of his mouth in an involuntary spit. His eyes widened as Suzuna opened the box and showed cosmetics beyond bearable pricing.

"You're kidding. They just gave this away?"

"They didn't give this away. I won it." even though there was hardly any emotion there, Aoi could make out something close to anger.

"Alright, alright, I'm sorry. But man, what a prize! Do you have any idea how many women would sell their soul just to have this?"

A light bulb sparked in her head.

"Oh, they don't have to go that far." Suzuna said, eyeballs turning into yen symbols, "They can buy this from me for a low price of 700,000 yen."

Aoi could almost make out a dark aura from behind her, matched by an evil laugh forming, but he chose to ignore those strange things in light of a better idea.

"Why sell it when you can keep it for yourself?"

"I don't need it."

"Sure you do." Aoi crumpled the empty packet and furrowed his eyebrows at her, "Look at you! You definitely need a make-over."

"Yeah, but a make-over wouldn't actually feed us. That 700,000 yen could take us far. Besides, I don't know how to use it."

"That's true, but – hold on, you were thinking about the price for that necklace, right?"

"Oh, that, well, you see -" She was cowering a bit from his leaning form. Somehow, she knew her next few words would upset him, "I decided not to buy the necklace."

"WHAT?!"

He didn't even have to ask for an explanation. That narrow, far away gaze of hers is sufficient, even after what they have talked about before – it was a helpless, defeated gaze.

Aoi tried to move his mouth to express his protestation, but Usui's words started haunting him to mute.

"Mom – could get sick anytime." She said softly, "We can't afford to take chances."

_You're asking the wrong question. Why is she in your head in the first place?_

"I can't afford to think about myself when we barely have enough."

_You've always been focused on yourself._

"I know you said buying something meaningful for myself isn't being selfish but -"

_Now that someone else has entered the picture, you get rattled._

"- my family holds more meaning for me than anything else."

_And she probably has something that you don't._

They locked eyes for a moment, his in silent frustration, and hers hopeful that he would understand. Indeed, Aoi understood, but he just couldn't bring himself to accept it.

_- you're so focused on yourself –_

_I am the center of my own world. _

He took the box from her lap, and peeled off the plastic seal. There was no protest from the girl, because she didn't know the novelty of an item based on its unbroken seal. Even if she did protest, he wouldn't have paid any attention.

'Fine. I'll focus on something else.'

"Sit still." He ordered, which was unnecessary, because her face was practically unmoving.

"You start with foundation."

He dabbed the soft, square pad on the creamy powder and started to glaze her face gently with it. Underneath the material, he could make out the softness of her cheeks, and the tingling affect her breathing had on his fingers.

"You don't need a blush-on." He said, himself blushing while she continued to look at him. "But just so you'd know how to, I'll put some."

He could almost hear his own heartbeat.

Her natural appearance defeated any other purpose, yet he still continued lining up her long lashes with a small, comb-like stick. He was doing it slow, and careful, and it was making his blush deeper. It seemed rather unfair to him that he was the only one feeling awkward and weird about the situation. All she did was look at him, with those big yellow eyes of hers.

He placed the liner back on the box, and took hold of the pad again – for no particular reason. He just felt like stroking her face, albeit indirectly. She seemed to enjoy it too, judging by the way her breath eases out whenever he strokes the pad down her check.

"Your hair is getting in the way." He said just to give her a heads-up before slowly moving a curtain of black hair covering her forehead, his fingers trailing a subtle line just above her eyebrows.

"Close your eyes." his voice was turning into a husky whisper, almost too mature for his age. Suzuna followed, and Aoi laden her lids with very light layer. He was quick to do it, and she was quick to open her eyes again, as if looking at each other had become a need.

The girl remained still, as Aoi continued his gentle wok. His right hand took time in the motion on her cheeks, while his left banded her hair up, feeling as well the bounty of hair she has.

He then released her bangs, and used two fingers to secure her small chin.

"Open your lips slightly."

She obeyed, and let Aoi gauge the kind of color she would need.

The cool weather has flustered her sensitive lips. There'd be no point in adding lipstick, but it could use some shine.

He decided to go for a shy amount of lip polish just to let the natural redness stand out. With Suzuna staying still as told, Aoi opened up a bottle of clear gloss and pulled out a damp brush. He then proceeded to lather her lips, which seemed so fluid and ridiculously soft while he did so.

It suddenly became taxing – her lips are so thin and seem so fragile that the smallest miss of the brush could either flick a drop of polish in her mouth or uneven the layer of foundation.

But Aoi was in his comfort zone. This is his passion – to make cute, out of seemingly un-cute creatures. Seemingly, because he did his best to convince himself that she is definitely not cute, while the concentration and focus actually came from the hypnotic affect her lips have on him.

Eventually, the spell had to break, and time had to tap them both on the shoulders to remind them that it was over.

"Let's – dry the polish, k?"

Suzuna made a tiny nod, before Aoi shaped his own lips into a small funnel to blow warm air on the dampen lips of the girl. Slowly, he waited for the glossy texture to darken in hue, inhaling and blowing in intervals, stopping only to match his breath with his rapidly beating heart.

Aoi used the back of his thumb to touch her bottom lip, verifying the dryness.

"And that's – how you use – a make-up." Aoi whispered, still a bit out of breath, still excited (in a good way).

"Okay. I'll try to remember."

Suzuna straightened up, and leaned back.

Aoi took long, deep inhales to compose himself. His face was completely red, so he slammed both palms on those cheeks of his to lessen the shade.

"You can't sell that set anymore. It's been used."

"That's a shame." She said, unconcerned.

It surprised Aoi a bit. He was expecting her to be upset, since her plan was clearly to sell it. But the look on her face while she fondles the intricate designs of the box told him she had found more worth in the item than what money could afford.

_- do something for her._

"I'll help you earn that 700k, and you will buy that necklace."

"What's in it for you?" she asked, smirking slightly with that familiar question.

'It's something for you.'

"It's annoying to watch you. You'll be less un-cute if you wear it." Aoi grinned a boyish grin. An idea then came to him, "Do you have a cellphone? You should take a picture of yourself, so you can practice at home."

"I don't have a cellphone."

There was no surprise there, but Aoi still found himself groaning over such lack of necessity. He then pulled his own phone from his pocket.

"I'll print you a copy."

He flipped the top of the phone and aimed the lens at her. Before he could take a shot, he was forced to stop.

It finally struck his awareness how beautiful Suzuna became.

'Whoa.'

The mental gasp got stuck under his throat. Suzuna was curious about the minute-long pause, and tilted her head at him, which was the exact moment when Aoi pressed the button.

"Ah-" the angle was a bit off, at least in Aoi's opinion. But when the phone generated the image -

"May I see?" Suzuna asked, leaning close to him.

"No! I mean, you'll see it when I print a copy for you, okay?"

That didn't really matter to the girl. In her mind, the make-up was irrelevant. The money also became irrelevant. Actually, everything else was irrelevant – save for the person beside her, and the moment they have just spent together.

She carefully placed the box back in the paper bag and then looked at said person. He was staring down at the image captured a few seconds ago- his eyes were wide, reflecting a blend of disbelief and something else in them.

The boy then closed the phone, and dashed forth, only to stop a few steps later to turn around, bearing his signature scowl, face riddled by a layer of blush over his nose and across his cheeks.

"Beeeeh!"

We all know where that bratty act came from. In fact, anyone would, judging by how he was smiling ear to ear while running home. His entire face was glowing, perhaps out of a new discovery, of an exciting epiphany , of a threshold just crossed.

Needless to say, he has resigned himself to the overpowering 'inspiration' that has been haunting him for two nights.

When he got him, still brimming with energy, he began to actualize the dress that would make cute out of a so-called uncute girl.

At that level, he felt like he could sketch, snip and stitch for the rest of his life, fueled only by one and a half packets of croquette, and the new wallpaper in his cellphone.

* * *

To be continued…

The Tsundere aspect is heavily used, i know, but we all love Aoi that way, yes?

One of the scenes familiar? Hint: Super 8 – I used to have a huge crush on Elle Fanning. (^_^)

If you think the make-up part didn't seem right, that's because, well, it isn't. I didn't do my assignment on that one – sorry. But we'll make use of that lip gloss again.

And no, i don't know whether or not Suzuna has a cellphone, but the lack of such would be beneficial.


	4. Wrecked Wednesday

**Still alive! But barely – got bed ridden for a couple of days, sorry.**

**Anyway, it's up and running, and we're closing in towards the ending. The title is pretty much reflective of the entire chapter, because I was also a wreck when I wrote this. This is transition part, so I hope you can excuse the misleading details. And don't freak out when you come across Suzuna's dark side near the ending. I know it's very unlikely to happen, but whatever.**

**So anyway, read and review!**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Maid-Sama

Chapter 3: Wrecked Wednesday

* * *

Aoi yawned for like the 9th time that morning, rubbing his eyes decorated at the bottom with strokes of grey.

He considered the mistake of leaving home without taking even a cracker by the cupboard, after feeling his stomach grumble a bit.

Despite sleeping for less than a few hours, he found himself waking at first light – a bit sweaty, a bit flustered, a bit concerned.

'What a weird dream.' He thought with a blush, remembering the hazy vision he had of her involving a delightful amount of – skin… the primary cause of his lag.

An all-nighter, a couple of fresh cuts and prickles – he'll take them happily all for a fancy new dress.

But a disturbing dream will cause tremors in his focus.

Hunger and pain got pushed further back as he passed by a familiar store. The jewel adorning the headless bust made him smile, and he fancied again the image that riled his adrenaline last night.

'Yeah, the color would blend perfectly.'

The boy's handsome face got stuck with that smile. Fortunately, it mellowed down to his default scowl by the time he reached the Ayuzawa residence.

"Oi!" he called, getting rude on purpose.

The target girl turned her head, body suspended midway in pinning fresh laundry on a wire.

"Aoi!" she didn't sound excited, but Suzuna's face was a bright combination of surprised and pleased so yes, we can consider that stoic level as excitement.

A tiny tint of red found its way on his cheeks. Apparently, he didn't miss the glee in her amber eyes that others would have – familiarity builds sharp perception, it would seem, though he didn't really know how to react to such.

The same can be said about the girl, as she noticed the markings of sleep deprivation on Aoi's face.

"We have a lot to talk abo -!"

Aoi froze, Suzuna wondered, and the two stood a few feet away from each other, the girl clueless from such reaction, holding a specific type of garment in hand, while the boy was quivering, speechless and smoking with embarrassment, as he looks at the pair of panties in the girl's hands, a million pictures simultaneously popping in his head – involving skin, and the dream, and all flowery stuff boys always manage to create in their subconscious.

But enough of that – Aoi came with a purpose, and the purpose doesn't involve panties.

He flushed the images with a rough shake and was told by the pretty girl to come in. It was appreciated, considering she still has some business with the 'laundry.'

He was asked to stay in her room – a first experience, and it was making him nervous, but the girly and somehow, mature touch of Suzuna's personal space was soothing, so it calmed the boy's stressed mind.

He breathed in the scent – cinnamon, and green tea – quite relaxing.

On the study he saw a recognizable box. He stood up, hoping he wasn't being too nosy by the next few moves, and decided to have a glimpse at the expensive make-up kit.

'I wonder if she's been practicing.'

He pushed the button to unlock the thing, and lifted the upper half of the cube-shaped container. Expecting to see a palate of face-adorations, he was met with something slithery and vile – it shot up from inside the box and wrapped itself around his head.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!"

It was the extra-dimensional creature, and it has turned hostile on him.

"GETIFOFF!GETITOFF!"

"Ah, you opened the box." In came the girl, apathetic amidst Aoi's thrashings and struggles.

"Don't just stand there! Do something! This thing feels like it's going to kill me. Oh my God!"

"No need to panic."

Suzuna went behind Aoi, placed a hand on his head, and gave a slight tug on the creature's tail.

Apparently the box was springe-loaded, in some ingenious manner of manipulation. The recovering boy settled down while he watched Suzuna coil the little monster and returned it to its deceptive den.

"What- how – but why?" a lot of questions in not so many words. Lucky for him Suzuna knows how to speak and understand stupid when she hears it.

"With some help, this could prove useful."

"Or fatal." Aoi said, groaning while he massaged his neck.

"Are you hurt?"

He wasn't, and Suzuna knows this, but she still crawled towards him and tried to reach out.

"I'm fine. Don't-"

The next words got thrown somewhere. Suzuna was already stroking his neck with the tip of her fingers.

"You're ok." She said.

"I told you, didn't I?"

"Hm, you can be overly dramatic." She smiled and flicked a finger at his small nose.

"Hey!"

"Want some coffee?"

Aoi raised an eyebrow. An unusual offer, but the caffeine could straighten out his brain bits.

"Sure, why not."

"I'll be right back."

"I also need a notepad and a pen."

"Ok."

'The apron looks nice –' He thought, grinning at her leaving form. But the grin got covered by something un-expressive when he saw how short her shorts were from the backside.

It was a new kind of warmth that scattered around his body, one that scared him. He swiftly shook it away and appeased the relentless heartbeat.

When she came back, still clad with the apron, it was there again. But the scent of coffee mellowed him down, plus the calm look on her face.

"I have to outline our strategy in your sells."

He said while watching her place the cup and a small plate full of buns on the table.

Suzuna nodded. Aoi proceeded to write on the piece of notebook provided by the host, and took a careful sip on the cup. It was bitter, but he has an audience, so he showed not grimace. He's a tough kid.

The door in her room opened up, and a beautiful lady's head peered in.

"Suzuna-chan, I have to go out now. Oh, hello there!"

"Good morning, mam." Aoi said.

"What a handsome young man! You must be Aoi-chan."

"Y-yes. Yes I am." He stammered, unused to unadulterated compliments.

"Oho, my daughter talks about you often. You are quite the looker, as she said. Well, I'm off. Suzuna dear, be sure to care for our guest, okay?"

"Hai, okasan. Take care."

That cat-like pawing of hers is undeniable cute. Aoi admitted as much, and he found himself looking at her admirably again.

Suzuna looks back, and he was forced to look away.

The room turned silent after that. Only the ticking of a nearby clock, the occasional bustle of the neighborhood, and her gentle breathing. Other than that, he could also feel his irregular heartbeat as she observes him.

All throughout, Suzuna didn't seem to mind the lack of words, but something was tugging on Aoi's nugget that was causing more and more erasures on his notes.

"Hey," he said. Suzuna titled her head. "Did you, uh, tell your mom I was… good looking?"

The question was very embarrassing, but Aoi felt like he had to know.

"My sister did."

"Oh." His face dropped slightly.

"So did I. Aoi is truly handsome." She continued.

Aoi's fingers stopped moving for a moment, and then continued in an attempt to hide the fluttery motion his heart got into from such news – that Suzuna Ayuzawa thinks he is good looking.

"Quit messing around."

"I'm not. It's the truth. Or would you rather be called cute?"

"I don't want to be called anything, especially not by you. Now pay attention."

He took another painful gulp at the bitter liquid, just to exile that irregular heartbeat. The price was a slightly scorched tongue, and a sudden rush of pulse, but at least he was able to straighten his mind.

If not, he'd be thinking about why words of praise from her had a profound effect, compared to when others throw him flowery compliments.

"We don't have much time. Someone else might be able to -"

-glance –

Her kneeling form, her shorts, her thighs –

-skin-

-stare –

Aoi's face was burning. He cleared his throat and decided to turn again so she wasn't facing her.

"-ahem, I mean, someone else might buy it first, so we have to work hard and fast."

"Okay."

"First on my list – I'm thinking of pawning all my dresses to get at least half of -"

"NO!"

That was the first time he heard her voice in such a loud volume. It forced him to look her way. When he did, he noticed she didn't look any different. Perhaps an impulse?

"What?"

"I said no." her voice was neutralized, "Don't pawn your dresses. Don't go to pawnshops."

A questionable disagreement – Aoi had always found her bizarre, but her actions and scarce comments are often justifiable, save for this one.

On a brighter note, he also felt a little relieved. At least she has enough sanity to have her own opinion.

"Why? It'll help. My dresses may not be much, but I have enough to at least get us halfway through that 700k."

"Don't pawn anything that you worked so hard on. I have a friend who frequents your blog. She says your dresses are always trendy, says she'd buy them from you if you let her. Sell them to people, to friends. At least they would appreciate your efforts, and the meaning of those clothes to you."

The content of her statement contradicted her manner of speaking, which was the same icy tone of nonchalant-ness, whereas she was clearly expressing concern.

"I appreciate that, but we might not have enough time to…"

"I'll figure something out. Just don't pawn your dresses."

Aoi sighed. Her concern and consideration was – bewildering, and he still felt like she was going against it with unnecessary effort.

"Fine." He said, re-writing something on the pad, "I guess we have to make some adjustments then. Give me a second here."

The plan was laid out with a lot betted on the pawnshops. But now, with respect to his 'partner', he has to make some re-calculations.

In the minutes he spent, deep in thought and driven by the drained-down coffee, he could still feel her warm gaze on him.

The serious atmosphere a while back had been replaced by an awkward one.

Slowly, his body was starting to tense up and get conscious again. The feel of amber gaze was making him horribly nervous, that and the distractive power of 'skin'.

"Your hand."

"Hey! Back off!"

She leaned towards him and tried to reach out to his hand. She seemed to have developed a fondness over them.

Aoi was forced to crawl back a bit, and Suzuna was forced to crawl forth, just to tighten the space between them.

'Crap – she still smells… so nice…'

Suzuna noticed the boy's apprehensive behavior, and stopped. The distance between them had been reduced to almost nothing. Her knee was now touching the side of his thigh.

Aoi had returned to the puzzle of building the remainder of that 700k without the aid of pawning. He was glad that whatever shoujo plot Suzuna was trying to establish had ceased. She's enough disturbance as she is, and she doesn't even have to do anything to be so.

The present moment is no exception. She sat there, unmoving and stone hard like a statue, eyes fixed on him.

A disturbed Aoi is an Aoi without output. In the few days he has spent with Suzuna the stoic, he has learned that she can stare for an entire day without a twitch, which would take his disturbed and unstable state very far. He has to do something about it.

"Here." He decided to give her what she wants, at least for the time being. "Help yourself."

Aoi didn't need his left hand to write. But he does need a majority of his brain to concentrate, and it seemed Suzuna has taken part of it along with his hand.

After struggling to be accurate with his notes, which has failed, Aoi felt something warm and moist being applied on his hand.

With two fingers she was spreading a white, thick substance all over his hand in a massaging fashion, between his fingers and over his palm.

He did notice the seriousness on her face, and the heat her smooth thigh was providing. Suzuna had laid his hand on her lap, and she seemed fine with the back of his hand getting a good feel of her –

'Ah – skin!'

It was smooth, it was soft, and it was making his brain numb.

If only he would admit it, it would have been less difficult. Sadly, he was so against accepting other people's feminine spices.

"Wh-what's that?"

"Antiseptic healing cream. It can also help remove scars. Aoi has as a nice skin. He should take care of it."

"Yeah, well, Aoi doesn't need any un-cute girl telling him that, especially if said un-cute girl wasted money for some stupid cream." Aoi said, grumping like a sour grape in a sweet bowl, feeling the awkwardness talking of himself in the third person.

"I didn't buy it. I won it."

The same defensive pout from the warrior of 'cut and win' enterprise. A passive Suzuna getting fierce is scary, Aoi considered that much.

"You – won it?"

"I finally did. I had to go through every single issue in yesterday's stock."

The bag full of magazines – all of those, just to get him something for his hands?

Aoi wondered what it took to acquire such an item. The cream looks like it's under a prescription list of dermatologists, definitely not just a beautifying agent, but also a healing one. Already, his hand was feeling languid and cool, as if last night's accidents with the needle never happened at all. Aoi watched her continue in her meticulous attempt to cover each apparent prickled, numb part a sufficient layer.

He lifted his hand – already missed the pillow that is her lap – and examined the effect.

"Not bad." He said, almost only to himself.

"Apply again tonight. It should work better."

She placed the bottle on the table. Aoi snapped his head towards her.

"Wait – you're giving it to me?"

Suzuna nodded, "You're the one who is accident prone with your sewing kit, not me, so yes, I'm giving it to you."

His cheeks turned scarlet, something close to gratitude threatening to squeak out of his developing voice. But the all powerful pride and the incessant drive of independence was constricting him.

"But – I, this…"

Suzuna stared at him, and perhaps understood beyond his feeble display. She smiled a meaningful and unusually toothy grin as if she knew it would piss him off, "Ah, Aoi-chan is too embarrassed to say thank you – it's adorable."

"Shut up! I am not embarrassed."

"But you ARE adorable."

There was only a frustrated, defenseless grumble, a smoky blush to match the attempt to look away from her, and no unorthodox insult. But Suzuna's intention obviously didn't include any discomfort on his part. Her smile then softened into a less quirky, but sweeter one. She seems aware of his aggravation towards anything she presents him, but…

Their eyes locked for a while. Suzuna didn't seem adamant about it. Aoi did, but got so absorbed into looking at her all the same.

"Thank you." he whispered, bowing his head a little.

"You're welcome."

And that's that. Whatever conspiracy being established herein, the girl has put a stopped into it. Her coy only goes as far as jest would push, but not to a mocking point. Somehow, she knew Aoi had had enough of that in his so called 'other worlds'.

Aoi's face was crumpled into a condense pout and a pair of furrowed eyebrows, but there was clear appreciation in the way he looked at Suzuna.

"Well – I, have some ideas."

"About the sale?" she asked, glancing over at his notes and discovering them to be a wreck of a handwriting.

"Y-yeah." Aoi grabbed the notes and scooted a bit farther from her. "You need to list down all your items. Some are good for practical use, some for novelty, some for consumables, and some aren't good for anything. We need to know which is which."

"I see."

Suzuna was mentally going through all her stock while Aoi explained his plan. "Let's take for example your 15 yen worth of pen. It's a good price, but it doesn't catch much attention. Anyone can pass by a bookstore if they're really looking for one. Your best chance to sell it is when a mother forgot her grocery list at home and she needs to write down everything again."

"Which means she'll buy my notebook, right?" she asks, suddenly excited.

"Not if you sell it at twice the price. The thing about your items is that we rely too much on people needing them independently. But if we put them all into specific groups, say, we package the 30 yen notebook along with the pen, and slap on a 35 yen price for both, then the chances increase."

"But wouldn't that mean we get lower sales?"

"We'll make good sale." The smile of confidence on his suddenly boyish and bright face struck Suzuna somehow, and she slowly find her lips curving upward in reflection, "Trust me. You just pair up your items based on the categories I gave you, and leave the rest to me."

"Okay."

While he explained the remainder of his action plan involving people's preferences and seasonal differences, Suzuna had laid out a couple of plates full of buns more, seeing as he has absentmindedly consumed the first. Before long, they were both arranging the items in according to their strategy, washed up the plates and cups, and started heading out.

There was a surge of excitement in the boy as they walked, showing awfully clear on his refreshed face. Suzuna was quick to note this, but dismissed it all the same. She has learned to pay attention but not to pin point details – save for the fun bits of him, perhaps.

"How did you come up with all that?" Suzuna asked.

'2 sleepless nights thinking, knitting and planning – that's how.'

"I'm a genius. Plans like that come naturally." He declared, contradicting the admitted lack of sleep.

Suzuna just snickered at him, but didn't say anything.

It was Aoi's turn to get observant and glance at his companion. That God-awful cargo pants again, and a lose sweatshirt matching nothing else than the braids of her hair and the stoicism on her was, not to pin such a fine point, annoying.

But she did get him that cream – so he'll forgive her just this once.

Lower down her arm, he took note of the bulge apparent on the stash she was carrying. He looked over, not minding her attention, and saw that she has brought the box, along with the ferocious being inside it.

"I hope you're not planning on letting that thing lose again." he said with a fearful tone.

"It's a toy, silly." She said, smiling as if Aoi was being childishly ridiculous, "And no, I won't let it lose. Unless some of your friends decide to drop by again – I might get trigger happy with the box."

Aoi blinked at her a couple of times before sharing the thoughtful smile she was wearing.

The distance between them, he admitted, has grown small, figuratively and literally, although he still couldn't bring himself to admit that she is in fact a pretty young lady with wavy curve set by the meager choices for rough clothing. From the side, he could hardly see anything worth being 'hot' about, but that just leaves too much to the imagination – which is currently dominated by the proverbial dream, which currently have the profound effect of making his body hot in more ways than one.

As they walked, it was as if his eyes was continuously being tugged by the lose sweatshirt – there's nothing worth looking at her front, nothing – he tried to convince himself, but each time he'd fall to the trap of looking, his gaze would fall down, down, down – until Suzuna would turn her head towards him, cheek slightly tainted and with clear shyness that contradicts her expression.

"Hentai." She whispered.

"Shut up!"

They got their goods set up just in time for people to start building up in crows. Suzuna's watch shows a quarter pass 2, so it's a good business hour.

* * *

"Alright, this is perfect."

The girl's whimsical gaze turned to Aoi. He seemed to have brought an extra back pack along with him. He swung the bag on his shoulders and beamed at Suzuna proudly.

"I'll be back – with re-enforcements."

Whatever the hell that meant left very little for Suzuna to process on. The items are now set for display, and the people seem to be flocking at a certain direction - hers. She is never the person to let her curiosity get to her, especially if she came there for business purposes, but she was growing more and more intrigue at who or what was it that was drawing people's attention.

"Hi there ~!"

A sweet, yet strangle familiar treble of girly voice forced her to look up and saw an extravagantly clad girl, clearly within her age range – blonde hair, thin, devious and sexy lips, and bathing, thick eyelashes that turned dolls to pale. Her dress was unnecessarily beautiful, Suzuna thought. More than that, SHE was unnecessarily beautiful. The effort it took to personify her being seemed too insurmountable for the young Ayuzawa's comprehension. No wonder Aoi has a certain disdain over her lack of such appreciation –

Speaking of which-

'Ah, it's him.'

The net-idol winked at her/his bewildered friend, sensing perhaps her slow yet certain understanding of the matter. The fans behind the seeming girl were ogling at her like she was the most adorable creature in existence, and Suzuna could pretty much sense why. Some of them were contend in taking pictures from her backside, and still some were stealing front shots or at least are begging at her for some.

So much attention Suzuna felt like it was choking him. Then again, perhaps this was the reinforcement.

"Okay, fellas!" Aoi-chan (the drag) called sweetly at them, "This here is a really good friend of mine, and she's kind of in a pinch, so she prepped some nice items for us. Now, those who will be kind enough to make a purchase will get a special, commemorative photo coupled with yours truly."

There came her (or him) signature wink, and sea of hurrays blasted through the group, obviously from a mob liking the deal.

* * *

"Phew, glad that's over with."

He slumped down the mat with his equally exhausted friend and started twisting his aching shoulders.

"We got through half-way." Suzuna said, rolling the thick bundle of cash and checking on their remaining stock.

"Good. Before the week ends, you'll have that necklace."

The poses and smiles he did for those 2 dozen teenagers were tiring, to say the least. It almost completely drained him. Then again, he wouldn't lie – it IS fun to dress up and make people smile. He knew most of those people. They're not the perverted, creepy types that would otherwise objectify him to a sexual degree. Most of them got hooked into his blog, and had been following his flowery path for the experience of freshness net-idol Aoi-chan induces.

While he took a mental note to send them individual thank you messages later, he felt a gazer who seemed comfortable setting her eyes on him.

"What?" he asked in the same obnoxious tone.

Suzuna pulled up her knees and laid her cheek on them as if settling in for a longer stare.

"Thank you." she said.

Aoi didn't reply. He just let the blush take its place and sipped at the can of coke that was offered to him. His other hand was protectively covering the back pack holding the 'trap' uniform, Lolita mode with a gothic hint. He cautiously rolled his eyes just to cheek if she was still looking at him.

She wasn't. Her gaze was now far, absorbed in thought and schemish.

'Only a few more days. I wonder if I should ask her now –'

"Can I ask you something?" she suddenly spoke.

"Wh-what?"

"It's been bothering me for quite some time now, ever since we first met."

It was the part he hated most – when she had plastered that unreadable mask again, the one that speaks beyond the language of perception. When she turned her head and sucked him in her beautiful, yellow eyes, it got worse, for at that point he has lost capacity to insult (which consists of 75% of his personality), as well as the capacity to look away.

"What is it?" he asked, a bit melted with her childish scent.

"Do you -"

'Please don't ask me if I like you.' he prayed, because he knew he would either admit it, or come up with a pathetic excuse would just get choked beneath his panicky state.

Then Suzuna's lips twitched up, "Do you wear panties along with that dress?"

"Eh?"

His brain kicked in after some lag, and the first box that was ticked was his insecurities. Whatever softness his face had turned vanished as it was quickly replaced by his signature glower, matched by mashing teeth and a few, clear veins swelling through his thin skin.

"You making fun of me, Ayuzawa?" he asked.

"Not at all."

The girl answered quickly, and just as quickly, Aoi's anger vanished, but something worse than anger took its place after Suzuna let lose the next statement.

"I'm just picturing Aoi-chan in flowery lingerie – you'd look so smooth, and, soft and, um, 'bulgy'"

Aoi shivered at the term – she actually made an adjective of the word 'bulge'.

"Yeah, you'd look really nice in a panty."

Suzuna had this dark, smokey hue on her usually sparkly eyes as if she was being possessed. It frightened the boy extremely.

"You shut up! I don't wear panties!"

The girl's head snapped back at him, a bit disappointed and he was reduced into an investigative scan, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure!"

"Wanna find out, Suzuna-chan?"

The two turned their heads towards the owner of the voice, and saw a handsome blonde, walking up the slope where they were at, each hand secured in a pocket as if the walk was more than enough of a relaxation.

His devious smirk annoyed Aoi.

"What are you doing here?" said boy suddenly asked, getting defensive with no understandable reason.

Usui didn't answer, but narrowed his eyes at the lad.

"Usui-nisan – thanks for coming!" Suzuna declared and stood up to meet him.

"Wait – you invited him?" Aoi wasn't able to hide the discomfort in his question.

"You got a problem with that?" Usui asked.

"I might. I got plan laid out, and it doesn't involve any creepy, perverted aliens."

"Emphasis – SHE invited ME- So whatever business I have here, kid, is none of yours."

The fact that Usui even bothered to return the argument was enough intimidation. Even as he himself has stood beside Suzuna, Aoi still felt impotent looking at his tall figure. It wasn't fair that Usui was bigger, or older, or probably better looking –

-or that he already took Misaki from him, and he seems to want to take Suzuna too –

'Wait, what?'

"Did you bring it?" Usui asked, ignoring the glaring lad.

"Hai." Suzuna was still a bit concerned that there was a premature friction between her friend and her sister's boyfriend. But it's normal for boys to be hostile towards each other, right? "Wait here a bit."

She skipped towards the resting array of paper bags and carefully took out some items with the intention of retrieving a specific. Meanwhile, the boys continued to stare at each other, the younger trying to be as fierce as possible, while his counterpart just took the jest in his demeaning look to a whole new height.

"So I take it yesterday's advice didn't work." He said.

"I'm still working on it, but believe me, I'm not asking for your help again."

"Fine, but believe ME, you'll still need it."

"Here." Suzuna entered the scene again before Aoi could give his statement a thought, "If it gets out somehow, just twirl it around the wire and push it back down."

"I got it."

The girl handed the big, black box. Aoi was partly wishing Usui didn't know the contents, which would end up in a disastrous surprise, but he knew Usui is too clever to take something suspicious even from a girl like Suzuna. That said, no suspicion was necessary, because they seem to have been engaging into a separate endeavor.

Usui and Suzuna continued to discuss the matter of selling the fancy box containing a not so fancy 'toy' inside, and they seem to have forgotten the presence of another contributor to the project.

The feeling of being left out, Usui's dominating presence, and her childish happiness as they converse – everything was gripping on Aoi's insides like an evil clutch.

"I'm sorry for causing trouble, Usui-nisan."

"There's no trouble at all. My friend had always been looking for a good prank-tool, he'll definitely love this. I'll negotiate the price. I can guarantee you I won't sell it cheap."

"Thank you, nisan."

The affectionate way Suzuna was addressing Usui was making Aoi's eye twitch. He was now itching to kick Usui out of the park.

It didn't seem that the blonde had further business, though. Then again, we all know the devil that he is.

He eyed Aoi secretly and was about to leave, only to turn around again.

"By the way." Usui said, "Can I have my reward, now?"

Suzuna's face turned a bit red. "Now? But – but there's people around, and Aoi's here too."

"Oh, it won't bother him."

'What wouldn't?'

Aoi wondered about any scheme Usui was starting pull on him.

"Okay then."

Before the bluenette could connect his memory with Usui's demented nature, Suzuna had already leaned up and placed said 'reward' on Usui's left cheek with the use of her lips.

His eyes grew wide at what he was seeing.

The entire world melted into oblivion as Aoi's vision darkened, highlighting only the scenery of Suzuna kissing the perverted Usui Takumi on the cheek. A powerful wave of jealousy, anger, and some other things within those sentiments washed all over the boy's numbing insides.

Needless to say, Aoi was beyond 'bothered'.

* * *

_to be continued..._

I hope you enjoyed that!


	5. Thursday's Thoughts

**Two more chapters to go!**

**Sorry, but I can't control the length of the chapters anymore. But just for the sake of convenient reading, I decided to divide this chapter into two, athough that didn't really do much good with the length.**

**Anyway, I hope you enjoy this for now.**

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Maid-Sama

Chapter 4: Thursday's Thoughts

* * *

_It hurts._

_Why?_

_I don't understand._

_Why am I so angry? So depressed? So lonely? So…_

…_confused…_

_It's tiresome._

_I don't even know what I feel anymore._

_I want this to stop._

_She should go away._

* * *

"Usui-oniichan, dame…"

"Why not? There's no one out here to stop us."

"Yes, but Aoi-chan… he might…"

"Might what? Oh, he doesn't care about you one bit. It doesn't matter to him who you 'do' it with."

"But…"

"Daijobu – I won't tell you sister. It will be our little secret."

"Okay… please be gentle…"

"I'll try, Suzuna-chan. But you look so beautiful tonight, I might not be able to help myself."

"Usui-nichan…"

"Suzuna-chan…"

"No – not there, please… ugh…"

* * *

The loud crackle of thunder woke him up.

Sweat was pouring down his forehead as if his temple was a soaked sponge. His drenched shirt was sticking on his body.

He struggled to get up. The moment his sole got in contact with the floor and forced towered him to stand, a searing pain drilled through his skull. It lasted for a moment, then subsided to mere puncturing stings. Even so, it hurt.

The time on the watched showed 3:30 am – the devil's hour, it would seem. The terrible weather outside was ideal for the concept, but he felt a little grateful since it woke him up from something worse than heavy rain and monstrous clatters of thunder.

"It's summer, for crying out loud." He groaned, dragging himself to the closet while rubbing his aching head, unsure if he was telling it to himself or to the blend of violent winds and sharp rain.

He snagged a clean shirt from the stack of folded clothes and pulled up his drenched one.

As soon as the cool air touched his skin, he felt a slight shiver. But the room was relatively warm, so it didn't last long, especially with his heart still racing. He let himself bask half naked while setting his eyes on the chaos outside his window.

"Settle down, darn you." he whispered to himself, scrapping his chest as if it would punish the pulsating flesh inside, as if the winds would subside if he did so.

To his relief, the migraine died down.

He pulled the chair on his table, knowing full well that despite the hour being too irregular, there wouldn't be much help in laying still.

Despite the darkness he could still make out the shape of his own phone. He slowly reached for the rectangular device and flipped the lid up. The room was then slightly illuminated by a shy flood of light, momentarily paining his eyes.

He continued to gaze at the phone's screen until his irises adjusts.

As soon as the wallpaper became clear, everything seemed to settle in its place – his mind, his heart, his aching body, even the weather outside sounded tamed.

His head fell on his arm in mild rest, with the phone settled to its side just across his face. The image on the screen slowly calmed him down, and made him smile.

_Suzuna…_

The person on the screen wasn't smiling, but the glitter in her eyes and the unnecessary, yet wonderful accentuation of the make-up whispered happy words to Aoi. It soothed him to peaceful respite. Sleep took over before he could defy it, because more than food or rest, he needed her.

* * *

_He's surrounded by a fluffy carpet of cloud, positioned comfortably on a stack of pillows, a drift on what seems like a floating rose. _

"_Aoi-chan." _

_He turns his head, and sees her kneeling, just across the supposed bed, an arm drags down by her side, while another settles across her figure._

_Her face is blushing. Her eyes are a mixture of shy discomfort and restrained happiness, but she's not looking at him. Them amber eyes are shifting all over the place, as if calling him and kneeling before him are making her vulnerable._

_The blue dress hugs her frame perfectly, beyond words, and beyond Aoi's tolerance of what is cute. This is beyond cute – it is… seductive._

"_Suzuna-chan." _

_He whispers, daring to provoke the awkward moment._

"_Don't stare so much." She begs in a soft tone – utterly uncharacteristic._

_Slowly he reaches out, not knowing where to begin, but somehow aware that she is giving herself to him in a defenseless, voiceless offering – perhaps an early birthday present. _

_He finds himself licking his lips._

_The advancing hand meets the corner of a shoulder, which jolts slightly over the tiniest contact. _

_Her eyes are closed, face turned away. _

_His finger glazes down slowly, tenderly, over such flawless skin on her arm. Her breathing gets caught in something strangled as he motions low, then high. Dissatisfied with just her arm, he lets his entire hand crawl higher up the crook of her neck. She breaths in deeply as if in savor of the sensation, and he lingers there, before slowly, hungrily, letting his hand crawl back down over her smooth arm._

* * *

He was snagged from the subconscious for the second time that morning, this time with a knock on his door. The first thing he considered beyond the intruder outside his room was the weather – calm, sunny, no traces of the violence before dawn.

Then his own heart – no traces of the nightmare, or any perplexing cardiac action.

He scratched his head and rubbed his slightly swollen eyes. He had been sleeping on the desk in a very uncomfortable position and it made his neck ache. Grunting and cursing under his breath, he pushed back the chair and walked towards the door.

"Ohayo, Satsuki-san." He greeted, eyes half-closed.

"Ohayo."

There was a silence from his aunt after that greeting. Aoi struggled to force both eyes to full open, but even as he did, the vision was blurred with some sticky aftermath of sleep.

"What?" he asked, seeing as the young woman was smiling at him in an inquisitive way.

"Someone's feeling manly today." She said in a sly tone.

'manly'

"Eh?"

That's when he realized that he had nothing on but a pair of boxers. He stumbled back into his room, quickly draped himself with an oversized shirt and opened the door again, a complete scowl stretching his girly features.

"What do you want?" he asked.

Satsuki giggled for a moment. "We have a dress-up theme today."

"So?"

That response surprised her. She raised an eyebrow at her nephew and examined him whether sleep or lack of such was shuffling his brain.

No such indication – he seemed like his usual bratty, obnoxious self, at least as reflected in his strong eyes.

"It's a day of dresses, gowns, make-ups and all those other stuff."

"Mm." Aoi simply confirmed. He started picking on something stuck at the corner of his eyes and flicked it to the side.

Such disinterest concerned Satsuki a bit – perhaps the boy is running on a flu or similar. Perhaps he had lost a part of his personality along with the excess of flamboyant flair.

"What, no pleading or coaxing or any annoying retort on how cute you'd be above all my other staff, or some blabber about our lack of feminine dignity?" she asked, provoking the expected nature of such self-engrossed brat.

Aoi simply shrugged, his face turned bored and clueless as if her words were out of his mind's registry of concerns.

Then she saw the cellphone that seemed to have been stuck on his right hand without his knowledge – and the beautiful girl on its screen.

She smiled after putting bits of thoughts together.

"That said, would you mind dropping by later this afternoon? We need some nice touches, and your sense of fashion is admittedly the best."

A tint of red found its way on Aoi's face, followed a prideful glimmer of his eyes.

"Yeah, whatever." The boy said, looking away.

Satsuki giggled again, perhaps picturing another flowery fantasy.

"What now?" he asked, annoyed.

"Suzuna-chan is cute, ne?" the woman chirped.

It took a few seconds before Aoi could work out how Satsuki pulled out such affective question. He immediately slapped shut the phone and threw it on the bed.

"No she's not!" he declared loudly, flustered and embarrassed. "Go to work already!"

"Hai, hai." She answered, and then eyed the room in the background. "Clean up your room."

"Like hell I will." he answered, and as quick as his response Satsuki started squeezing his nose. "Alright, alright, I will! Geez!"

"Good. I'll see you later."

* * *

'Manly – yeah right.'

With Satsuki having left and he, once again, owning the house to himself, he decided to take advantage of the privacy – which meant he can fool around naturally without anyone to mock him for it.

He pulled up the shirt and stood bare once again in front of the life-sized mirror.

There was nothing worth noting about his body, except his slow progress in the buff department – at this stage, his shoulders and would clearly indicate he is a boy, but not enough to further stress it.

He has also lost considerable weight, thus the lack of thickness on certain angles, making him look slim.

Looking at himself in the mirror was unsettling for Aoi – he was still stuck between a girl and a boy, something he should be celebrating about, but for some reason…

'Manly.'

The term placed Usui Takumi in his head, and he suddenly felt inferior. The person in the mirror reflected it in a defeated frown.

Muscles – he leveled his arm and tried to pump what miniature bulk he has. Somehow, satisfied, the frown turned into a victorious grin.

"Take that, Usui!"

Several poses later, he noticed something odd.

"No hair." he whispered, getting disheartened again. Just to confirm it, he scanned the body in the mirror again – from face, to chest, to thighs – not a single strand. Aoi gulped expectantly and, very cautiously, decided to take a peek down there. He pulled the strap holding his boxers up and, finding only a barren desert, grimaced with a conclusion – Aoi-chan is 100% smooth.

'Shouldn't that be a good thing?'

He re-assessed the situation. There shouldn't be a big deal about this, not since he's still a net-idol, and part of the job description is to be a 'girl', and who the hell wants a hairy girl? (no offense here)

That aside, it is even more peculiar to consider this sudden physical obsession. Since he is always laden with layers of clothing there is no point in being dermatologically conscious.

The thought driven lad felt limbs waiting to wake up, and so stretched out his arms. It was then he saw it, the first consolation of the day. He pulled his arm higher up and stepped closer to the mirror. There, right in the middle of his armpit, 2 string like things were curling up.

It made Aoi smile.

"Hah! There you are!"

Other than that, he also waft up a rather unpleasant scent. Weak, tolerable, and irrelevant, but still unpleasant. Last night's nightmare left him sweating.

He was about to head to the showers when he considered the state of his room. Papers scattered all over the place, bits of sliced cloth and threads cut from frizzles were adorning the room in an artistic mess. This is normal scene, and he doesn't feel like changing it. Besides, he has everything where he wants them to be – in a completely chaotic arrangement.

But knowing his aunt, he wouldn't hear the end of it if he doesn't make his room sparkle at least once in a blue moon. The bath can wait.

He decided to do some cleaning first.

* * *

"Ahhh… nice…"

The cleaning took more time and effort than expected, but the result was surprisingly pleasant. He couldn't remember the last time he saw his room with recognizable parts such as floors, tables, and shelves. His was just a complete mess, and he has gotten comfortable looking at it as such.

By the time he was finished, he was completely worn out.

Fortunately, the condition of a warm bath soothed him perfectly. He let himself soak in the tub while letting his thoughts wander off. Again, he found himself thinking about her, and about Usui.

'It was just a kiss on the cheek.' He told himself.

But he was still upset. Last night he came home from a great run, as if something was chasing him. Without any appetite for dinner, he locked himself to his room, and buried his face on the bed.

There were no reasoning, no actual sensation – just a blank state of anger unfolding in so many ways inside him.

The anger itself is not what's disturbing him. He had been angry before, numerous times, but this was different.

He didn't know why he was angry to begin with.

Deep down, he knows Usui is a decent, self-sacrificing person who is madly in love with Misaki, and he couldn't bring himself to hate him, regardless of his level of perversion.

And then there was the offer back then, a reward of some sort, which he blatantly refused.

_Would you like me to kiss you?_

"No!" he said loudly, more so to himself.

He plunged his entire form under the level of water and tried to flush out all other scenarios.

Unfortunately, something more lasting got marked in his head: a scene of Suzuna, beautifully clad with the dress, leaning up towards him, eyes closed, lips slightly parted.

"NO!"

He shot up from the bathtub with intense heat scattered all over his body, and he was quite certain it's not just from the bath.

He calmed himself down, and dove back in the water. He raked up his bangs and let the dampness stick it there. It was tickling his face anyway.

Again, he tried to focus his sentiments: why was he upset to begin with?

…upset… angry… depressed… annoyed…

…jealous…

It was a very unsettling notion for the lad, but it was all his mind could pick up on.

That and a certain realization: it's terrible to witness something being given to others, when it was offered to him first but he refused it.

* * *

The bath was nice, and it relaxed him, but for some reason his mind was exhausted. He couldn't even process another thought about anything else, since after admitting to himself that he was in fact jealous, he tried to bar every other idea that could lead to a more uncomfortable truth.

And when you fight the truth, you end up getting really tired.

He decided to flip through his site to check some updates.

As always, there were numerous messages with various contents – admiration, appreciation, some disdain, some threats, some jokes and provocation. But he knows how to filter through all of them.

One thread got his attention though. There a considerable number of people posting in it, and it seemed ghastly, the title being 'Aoi-chan, please be careful!'

Obviously, it came from someone who was concerned, but it also meant that there was something out there he had to be careful of.

He clicked the thread open and scanned through the posts. Everyone who posted left details about their account and contacts, which means they are posting something they are willing to be known for, which also means there are some serious stuff in here. He began to read the first few posts.

* * *

_Aoi-chan, please be careful! We've received some scoop about a lecherous guy prowling in the park, taking pictures of women and then attacking them at a certain point. The police has taken action to this, so it's all good, but please be wary about the crowd you attract. One of them could be that pervert. _

_Ah, yes, I heard that too. That's not really common now a days, but it's scary to think that he could slip pass the authorities! Aoi-chan, don't go to the park! ._

_I have to agree on that one! You should be more careful Aoi-chan!_

_Gambate, Aoi-chan! _

_Don't worry, Aoi-chan! We'll look out for you!_

_My sister got attacked last night. Fortunately, she escaped, but she said the man was about to do something sexual._

_Those darn perverts! We'll never let them get you, Aoi-chan!_

_It'll be bad if he's part of the crowd that usually flocks over you, Aoi-chan. Maybe you shouldn't go public for a while, at least until this case dies out._

* * *

That last post tugged at some wire in his brain. Fans normally build up around him in certain cases.

He's used to perverts and pedophiles. There's a lot scattered out there, some even directly targeting him. But wit and cunning got him out of those sticky times, so he's not at all concerned.

Still…

To have so many people worry about him, or at least his alternate persona, it is touching.

He took note of the details of those who posted and sent a common message of gratitude and good will. He asked them to take care of their relatives and friends, and to work with the proper authorities in catching the person.

"Blend-in Pervert – sounds fitting." He said, reading another post under the same thread.

Going through other messages, he found one that didn't seem to trigger familiarity. Rarely would he get a new message, mostly only from people who are trying to harass him in taking up multiple netnames.

The message came with a picture of three middle school girls, squeezed together in what look like a stolen shot of fun and mischief. They all looked so happy, and beautiful, Aoi thought.

He began reading the message:

_Aoi-chan, my name is Kaoru Shimada. I've always been a big fan of yours, but this is the first time I'm emailing you because I never got the courage to do so before. A friend of mine, she said she met you once in the park, told me you helped her immensely with something and that you are a wonderful person. She also told me it would be nice if I would send you a message._

_To be honest, I don't really know what I else I could say. I always visit your site, and always look at your latest outfits, and I always try to match your trendy designs. You have wonderful taste, Aoi-chan, and you make modern clothing look like an art. And now, knowing that you are also a nice person just boost my admiration for you._

_I'm looking forward to your latest work, and, I'm a bit ashamed to ask this, I was wondering if you could recommend some for me, clothing matches and patterns I mean. I'm the girl in the middle of the picture, the one to my right is my friend whom you helped. I may not be as cute as you, Aoi-chan, but I promise to be the best that I can be, just like you. _

_That's it I guess. I know you're pretty busy, and I know this may not merit any of your time, but being able to send you a message is a privilege enough for me. _

_Take care!_

She's wrong, Aoi thought – she's beautiful, and the jovial nature she seems to radiate in the picture says a lot about such beauty.

His eyes then travelled to the right, to see the friend she was referring to. She had a slim figure, twin pigtails, amber eyes, thin glossy lips and rosy cheeks. The smile she had in the picture is unlike any he has seen on her before, because he had the past few days with her, and he always fancied what it would be like to see her smile genuinely – and there she is, Suzuna Ayuzawa, smiling beautifully with two of her friends.

'I'm upset.' He said.

Kaour Shimada, as a fan, deserves some help perhaps, but not because of Suzuna.

He slapped both palms on his cheeks to release the smug look and walked towards the closet to find some clothes for her.

The first thing he noticed, amidst the array of fanciful drapes and ruffles, was a simple, handmade gown made specifically for the girl which he is currently trying to brush off from his head.

He gave up suppressing the smile, and just took his time running his hand on the folds lining down.

'She'll look good in this.'

The smile stayed.

When he went back to his desktop, he stared again at that apathetic girl and her smiling face.

He didn't feel like getting upset anymore.

* * *

"I'm off."

He called to none in particular. The house looks fairly good since Satsuki-san's visit, but it didn't make it any less empty. That's the reason why getting out of the house every once in a while is a good thing.

Except, for the past few days, he had always been out of the house, and there's hardly anything good about that –

_Aoi-chan, does this look good on me?_

_-_ is there?

He shook the images away, not wanting to be seen in public with a blush. He grabbed an umbrella from the bin. After the rain last night, he didn't want to take any chances.

And so he was out, stopping to glance at the odd looking tree in front of their house. It had a very scary, thick trunk.

'What an ugly tree' he thought, but he would be the last to chop the thing down, with all the fond memories it holds.

He had enough common sense to eat lunch this time, and with the fresh bath earlier, he seems more vibrant and flushed with health.

Maid Latte wasn't in the same condition, though.

When he got there, people were running about in all directions, either to prep food or their dresses. A Satsuki-san was right with a couple of things here, but she didn't mention anything about a bunch of animals playing dress up in a zoo. And the place looks like a wreck he felt like scolding his aunt for making him clean his own room when she couldn't even manage her own café.

"Ah, Aoi-chan!"

He seized the student council pres and thought she looked rather nice with bare shoulders on that dress. Actually, she looks nice in everything, just like Suzuna would, he imagined.

But he decided to scratch the last part.

"Sit down, Misaki-chi." He ordered.

"But I have to help in the…"

"This will only take a few seconds, come on."

From Misaki's point of view, it was rather odd to see the boy calm and collect, and not in his eyecatching costumes. He hates it when she called them costumes.

She smiled, though, feeling somewhat refreshed from his presence. The handsome, honest kid had the striking effect on people which she has long realized. If only he would be aware of it too…

"Okay."

The stool served Aoi good, as it allowed him to further spread the layers of cresses on her dress, and to fix a few things he considered dents to fashion. But he was too truly voice himself, he'd say the dress isn't enough to match her pretty face and slender body.

He kept that to himself.

"I'll fix your hair later, Misaki-chi." He said, running a hand through the folds and then tapping her back.

The girl stood and turned to face him. He looked at Misaki's slightly taller form and wondered what it was she was grinning about.

"You're different." She said, leaning her face closer, "Something about you has changed – can't put a finger on it."

There was an inquisitive look in her eyes as she examines the boy's face, now red as a cherry from such closeness.

Looking at Misaki's beautiful, strong features only brings Suzuna's face in his mind.

"Get away from me, you hag!" he said, pushing the girl. She didn't seem to have minded the rudeness, after all she was the one invading, and she's used to his divertive recourses when cornered.

'different'

If he is, he's not in the mood to assess that.

Because his attention was divided into what he's doing, and what he's thinking about. Apparently, the later has turned his usually grumpy expression into a serene feature that looks naturally beautiful.

"Yeah, I'd say he looks cuter today." Erika said, walking pass by them with a huge box in hand. "Did something happen to you, kid?"

He didn't answer. Instead, he walked towards the red-head girl and began fixing her sleeve.

"Nothing." He said quietly.

The college student looked at Misaki quizzically, but the class rep just shrug, retaining the smile and a wordless look that says 'let's just leave it.'

Everyone was regarding him with silent admiration, as he went about stealthily fixing everyone's dress, a solemn look gracing his androgynous face. Even the usually antagonistic Honoka didn't feel as hostile as usual towards him.

"Satsuki-san, I need a sewing kit." He called.

"Hai!"

The 30 year old woman took the box from a topshelf and handed it to him, but she held on when Aoi's hand was secured on the box. He looked up in question.

"Is something wrong?" Satsuki affectionately asked, her mild worry accompanied with a smile.

"Everything's fine."

"If you say so." She said, and let go of the box. Everyone else seems to have mellowed down and in sync with their respective tasks. Misaki was now patiently waiting for him back on the stool, having finished her share of that afternoon's duties.

The aunt and her nephew stood there, the later inspecting the contents of the box ceremoniously. Satsuki pushed his chin up gently with two fingers, and gave him a kiss on the cheek.

"What happened to my bratty, strong-willed net idol?" she asked.

Aoi shrugged. He appreciated the childish gesture, but he didn't want to be subject to it, especially in front of her staff. He pulled away from her.

"Probably died in the park." He said softly, mind clouded again by that robot and that alien.

That confused the manager a little, but whatever is happening to him, she knows him well enough – he'll overcome it.

"Hm, well if you see him, tell him everything's ready for Saturday. All he has to do is show up, and enjoy himself."

"Ano, Satsuki-san." He called, just as she was about to attend to other things

"Nani?"

"Well, I… I just wanna say thanks – you know, reserving Maid Latte for me."

First the calmness, then the gratitude – usually it works like 'Hah! Guess I have no choice but to use this poor excuse of a hovel you call a café.' There's a glitch here, Satsuki thought, but whatever it is, it's straightening her nephew's tongue, and there's no way she can complain.

She just smiled at him, and then walked away.

When he turned, Aoi saw that Misaki was smiling as well, but hers was a bit more knowing – as if there's something under the pretty little face of hers that she doesn't want anyone else to know.

"Tch, this is crazy – why is everyone acting so weird all of a sudden." He asked in a wearied manner.

"You're the one acting weird." She said, retaining the smile.

Aoi walked behind her and pulled out a comb from his backpocket.

He suddenly found himself gazing down at the plastic item in hand, as if it was something mysterious or amazing.

_One comb- sold._

That soft, robotic voice, as blank as it was, caused so much sweetness inside him he had to smile.

"Come on, Aoi! We don't have all day!" Misaki coaxed playfully, leaning her body back at the boy.

The contact made him blush immediately. He placed the comb back in his pocket and pushed the girl's shoulders.

"Give me a brush."

"I thought you had one." She said.

"I don't."

"Really? Didn't Suzuna sell you one?"

'Darn her!'

There's a brush by the table, so he just grabbed and pulled out the ribbon tying Misaki's hair. Her long black strands literally flowed like liquid. He stared at it for a moment, and then, when he couldn't resist it anymore, decided to run his fingers through them, extra gentle and extra careful that she won't feel it.

"Hentai!" Misaki bellowed.

Aoi immediately pulled his hand, fearing that iron fist of hers colliding on his face. But Misaki wasn't addressing him.

He heard her phone flip close and her lips release a deep breath.

"Usui Takumi?" he asked, letting the brush go through her hair.

"No, but he's involved. That darn pervert."

"What did he do this time?"

"Sakura texted me: she asked Usui to unfasten some costumes they found in the storage room. The guy's kind enough to do it without his usual fuss with me, but he forced Sakura to kiss him afterwards."

Aoi stopped amidst his gentle strokes on her hair.

"Forced her?" he asked.

"Well, not really forced – more like, cornered her. He said it's a reward or something. It's not a big deal, and I know he acted like that with my mom and Suzuna as well, but that kid's gotta grow up, you know? He can't go around asking people for kisses casually."

"Are you jealous?" Aoi asked, a bit in jest.

"N-no, of course not! Why do you ask that?"

"Because I know I am."

The softness of his voice prevented her from hearing him clearly. She turned around and looked up at him, and found his blushing, confused face.

Somehow, Misaki thought, she knows what's going on in his head. She turned her head and waited till he gathered his thoughts back.

A minute later, the teeth of the brush was going through her head again. His gentleness towards her was amazing, and also surprising. He handled her before, a bit rough, but this time, something seemed to have tamed the bratty idol to a composed artisan. Misaki soon found herself humming, completely relaxed with the boy's talented fingers.

"Ne, Misaki-chi." He called.

"Nani?"

"Um, I'm just wondering – why does your sister hate pawnshops?"

"How did you even know she hates them?" she asked, trying hard to suppress the grin on her face just in case he sees it.

"I didn't I – well, erm… it's just that, yesterday, she -"

"A few years back," Misaki began, interrupting his pointless defenses, "We were in the dump. I mean, literally, not a single food for days, my mom hopelessly sick, and me in the middle of my finals. Suzuna was the only one who had enough free time in her hands."

Aoi tried to imagine, momentarily appreciating the fantasy of a miniature Suzuna. His attention went back to the story line.

"While my mom rested and I reviewed, she tried to work out a way to put something edible on the table. And, well, she's ten, and a bit gullible. She passed by this pawnshop one day, and saw a lady, pulling out a ring from her finger and handing it to the man on the counter. She went there, and asked around, and her quick brain got things all figured out – or so she thought. Hey, you smell pretty good!"

She leaned back again and started sniffing on the crossdresser's chest. He pushed her away with burning cheeks.

"Knock it off!"

Misaki just giggled at him, and continued the story.

"Anyway, she worked out a way to pull off mom's weeding ring without her knowing, and the guy at the shop promised to hold it up, until she's got the money to get it back."

"How much did she get?"

"Just a thousand yen – the ring's genuine silver too."

Aoi couldn't help but feel angry all of a sudden.

"So yeah, after a few months, she managed to save that much cash, and then went back to the shop."

Misaki stopped, and took another deep sigh, sad memories darkening her face.

"The guy sold it out – for fifty thousand yen."

"What!? But he said -"

"It's clandestine, Aoi. You can't expect people like that to be true to what they say, especially to a desperate kid, who just wants to feed her mother and sister."

"So did your mom know?"

"Yeah, Suzuna went home the same day, eyes red from crying, saying horrible stuff about herself, and clinging desperately to my mom. She spilled it out – everything. Mom never got angry, of course – but… well, the thing is, Suzuna knows mom still loves our dad, even though he left us. And she feels like she took away the only thing that gives mom hope that he will still be coming back."

'That's why…'

Everything else went on regularly, save for the awfully quiet Aoi-chan. As diligent as he was in helping everyone prep up, he was still too preoccupied with his thoughts about her, and her reason for not wanting him to pawn his dresses, making his face solemn and serene, causing some unusual moe moments to flutter about, and it's not just coming out of Satsuki.

_Sell them to a friend. At least they would appreciate your efforts. Just don't pawn them._

He could hear her words piercing in his heavy chest.

This was far too complicated for Aoi to handle.

From the background, while Aoi fusses over his thoughts, Misaki considered him, and how his thoughts were obviously occupied by her sister.

She looked at herself in the mirror, and smiled. The boy had turned her hair into a familiar style of twin ponytails.

"Suzuna-chan, good luck!"

* * *

It was if the storm from this morning left its finger on that late afternoon.

Good thing he was smart enough to bring his umbrella, and that the wind is not as strong as the one before.

He had stopped by the jewelry shop, and was looking at Suzuna's prized accessory, when his phone started ringing.

He flipped the phone up and saw an unknown number. He grimaced, remembering the many harassment calls he gets in certain occasions.

'Probably some bored brat – I should really remove my personal contacts from the site.'

He closed the phone to end its vibration and deny the call, only to have it ring again. Perhaps some words of his own detest would clear this girl's head. And so, Aoi cleared his throat in shift of Aoi-chan net idol and answered the phone.

"Listen you, whoever you are, I got better things to do than let some pathetic loser bother me. If you don't like me, fine, I don't see any reason why I'd like you either, so go bother someone else, or I'll be force to trace this number and have you arrested. Do I make myself clear?"

"Very clear indeed."

Her icy voice was like a blizzard that froze his being right on the spot.

"But perhaps, if I tell you that I really like you, maybe you'd find a reason to like me too."

Blood felt like it was all over his body all of the same time, as heat and excitement defeated the cool breeze. Slowly, carefully, his mind placed pieces of understanding and memory together, until he managed to whisper her name.

"…Suzuna…"

* * *

_to be continued..._

I'll be posting the follow up tomorrow.

You can look forward to the follow up. I promise it would have more profound scenes in it.

For now, I hope you enjoyed this.


	6. Thursday's Thoughts Turned Taffy

**As promised - a quick follow up from yesterday's updates, although this one might be a bit too ecchi, and throw them both waaay off character, but well, the ideas were just flowing through, I have to write them.**

**Saphire Drizzle and 61wisampa - thanks for the reviews. I'll take note of the details. Too bad about the ending, though. With respect to Fujiwara Hiro, that might not have been the best, or most realistic pairing, but this is just me and my SuzunaXAoi obsession. **

* * *

Disclaimer: I don't own Maid-Sama (If I did, I would end it with Suzuna and Aoi madly in love with each other _)

Chapter 4.2: Thursday's Thoughts Turned Taffy

Note: Do not be fooled at the seeming senselessness of the title. There is some depth into it... i think.

* * *

"Y-you!"

"Me?"

"Yeah, you!"

He was stomping on the sidewalk, head red with blood rush, phone pressed sharply on his ear as if it was part of him.

The grin on his face got marked and stuck there for reasons unknown while he let the excitement and joy blend wonderfully in his tummy, just by hearing her voice.

"Do you have any idea how much trouble you've caused me?"

"For the past few days, yes, I have been causing you trouble. Sorry."

"Not that." He would've slapped himself if both of his hands weren't preoccupied.

"What do you mean then?"

Her voice, usually boring and rusty despite its softness, suddenly sounded sultry and fluid through the phone. His already running heartbeat just picked up a new pace.

"Never mind." he said. "You said you don't own a phone."

"Correction. I said I didn't 'have' a phone – back then, that is. I just forgot it at home."

"You're annoying." his comment didn't help the boyish grin continuously widening on his handsome features.

The other line got quiet for a moment, but he could hear her silent breathing – her warm, vanilla coated breathing. He remembered the time she breathed on his face when he was applying makeup on her.

"Hey," he said, finding the limit of his cheeks with that smile of his.

"Yeah?" she asked.

'I missed you.'

He wanted to say that, but couldn't find the right state of mind to do so. All he could think of at the moment was how happy he is, and at the same time, how foolish he felt for feeling overjoyed when she spent time with him just yesterday.

_Where's my reward?_

"Nothing."

"…"

He felt strange. For some reason, the silence didn't feel like it was blank. Normally, the absence of words would be uncomfortable. Now, words didn't seem relevant, even by the slightest. There's something there – just by knowing she's on the other line, hopefully smiling as he was.

"Aoi-chan."

"Nani?" he asked, regretting the leap of excitement in his boyish voice.

"Nothing."

'What the-'

That actually made him chuckle.

"Did you sell good today?" he asked, a bit too affectionately.

"Not much. I didn't need to, anyway."

"Oh?"

"Usui-oniichan helped a lot."

Happiness got drowned by that heavy feeling again. If it had any consolation, it is the fact that it also wiped his face clean of any ridiculous traces of glee.

"Takumi, huh? Bet you're having spending the day with him, rather than with me." he said dryly like a spoiled kid.

"Not really. He didn't come meet me today."

"He didn't?"

"Nope. I was actually alone at the park."

It was guilt, this. Aoi started wondering how many sentiments he could manage in a single day – better yet, how many affects can she have on him?

"I – I see."

'Sorry. I should have…'

"I didn't get to see you today." She said, voice further softening in a shy manner. "Are you okay?"

"Of course I'm fine. Why shouldn't I be?"

"You ran away last night, just before I could thank you for helping me. I want to do so in person."

"Don't be an idiot. It's raining. Do it tomorrow."

'And give me a reward while you're at it.' he said, grinning once again, the topic about Usui having been forgotten.

"I want to do it now."

"Are you stupid? Look outside. Only an idiot would go out at a whether like this." He said, realizing how uncomfortable the feeling of wetness on the length of his pants.

"I know, but -"

"But what?"

"I'm already in front of your house."

* * *

She didn't have an umbrella, or enough layers of clothes to prevent her from being completely drenched.

By the time he reached the corner of their street, Aoi was practically running, his own umbrella doing little to save him from the increasing volume of rain.

But he couldn't care less about himself. Knowing her, she'll be standing under this downpour if she has to.

He ran, and ran, until he caught sight of the tree in front of his house, hosting a familiar figure under its thin branches, the figure having a phone pinned by her ear and the same blank expression on her face. Her clothes were literally part of her body now as it clung to her skin, completely soaked.

"Stupid! Stupid! Stupid!" he yelled while running.

The girl seemed to have heard his voice. When she turned, and caught sight of him, her world became irrelevant, as her face got lit up by a small, yet very sweet smile.

"Aoi-chan!" she called, flipping her phone closed.

"YOU – ARE – STUPID!"

Suzuna saw the boy running at reckless speed towards her.

He was panting heavily by the time he reached her, face flustered, and seemingly infuriated. There were so many words being said through his dark eyes, so many emotions being conveyed, but as soon as he caught his breath, he said them all into a single, simple statement.

"Stupid." He said softly, shoving the umbrella on her hand.

The tree did well enough to protect her phone from water damage, but it didn't do crap for her. She seemed to have gotten wet already even before she got there.

Aoi couldn't spare more time to assess. He immediately pushed Suzuna in the house before she could argue.

When they reached the dryness of the house, he noticed something else, and it wasn't something he could ignore anymore.

On the contrary, he found himself staring at it.

Staring at the white undergarment inside, exposed through the wet, thin clothing she was wearing, giving a nice, definitive shape to her.

_Aoi-chan, does this look good on me?_

"AAAAH! Take your clothes off now!" he said, looking away, face burning red from ear to ear.

"You want me to take my clothes off? Aoi, you're being too direct."

It was annoying how void of embarrassment she was, although he did admit it was stupid of him to say that.

"Not like that, moron! Y-y-you'll get chills." He stuttered, eyes getting blur with the excess of blood on his face.

"Okay."

"Ah, wait, hold on-"

He turned around with the intention of stopping her. Their eyes met in that moment when she was just about to pull her dripping wet shirt, but Aoi's own eyes travelled down to the meager skin she was able to expose.

'Kami-sama – tummy – smooth – ' his mind formulated.

"What? I'm taking it off just as you said." Suzuna defensively declared, wondering if she was doing something wrong again.

"Not here, dummy!"

It was painfully clear how dense she was. Either she has no clue about boys and their mindboggling hormones, or she's playing with him.

She quickly dragged him in the bathroom, shoved a robe in her arms and slammed the door behind him after stepping out.

"Put your clothes in the basket and I'll have them washed." He yelled, still trying to contain his heartbeat.

"But-"

"Just do it!" he said, before she could argue.

He heard some shuffling from inside, and then some folding.

"You done?"

"Yeah." She answered.

"You put the robe on?"

"Of course."

"Good. I don't wanna see you without clothes."

"Are you sure about that?" she asked, playful hint escaping in her tone.

Aoi almost fell from where he stood. "Of course, stupid! I'm coming in."

Very cautiously, and very slowly, he opened the door, and then peered through the small crack, just to be sure. It didn't occur to him that he looked more perverted from an objective standpoint.

The first thing he saw was the hem of the white robe, and then, when he was confident she was fully covered, he opened the door and stepped inside.

She looked content in the white, fluffy layer.

"This robe feels nice."

She looked quite adorable in the outfit; he at least had to give her that.

"Hm."

He walked towards the basket, reminding himself to wipe the smile from his face. He did so, and then lifted her clothes.

"I'll have this cleaned up. It shouldn't take more than a couple of minutes. Just use the shower as you please, there're some shampoo on the upper cabinet, feel free to use those and… what?"

"Nothing." She said, looking away and hiding her own smile. "I just, don't normally go out using other people's showers shamelessly. I'm sorry to trouble you like this."

"What are you talking about?" he declared, a bit angrily, "If it's you, it's no trouble at all!"

"Really?"

'Shot!'

"A-anyway," he stuttered, walking by the door, basket in hand, "don't be a stranger. Just do what you have to do, and relax a bit. The water's nice and hot from the heater."

He had his back turn against her when she called again.

"Aoi."

The boy stopped, and cautiously turned his head. Cautiously, because he knows he'll be smitten again by how adorable she looked, all fluffed up like that.

It didn't work. When he saw, he still felt his heart melt with this sudden desire to squeeze her cheeks. She was smiling at him in an awfully sweet manner.

"Thanks a lot."

He just looked away and didn't answer.

"Your clothes should be dried by the time you're done. My room's the first door upstairs. I'll leave your clothes there and bring up some tea."

She didn't have enough time to say anything else. He already closed the door.

Outside, Aoi took a deep breath while leaning by the threshold. That was exhausting.

But despite that, very slowly, his face was forming a grin again. He even found himself giggling like the stupid love-struck brat that he is while walking towards the cleaner.

'Hehe! Suzuna is in my house! Hehe!' his mind kept telling him.

Some high-tech workloaded machine – their washer can take up kilos of clothes, wash'em, dry'em, and have them ready for wearing in 3 minutes tops. Amazing.

It's as simple pouring the laundry in and pressing a few buttons.

But for some reason, he found himself staring at the contents of the basket, face once again free of that ridiculous smile, but still red. In fact, even redder than before. Laundry had never been this difficult, except perhaps when you have a girl's pure white panties laying bare on top of her other garments.

* * *

'Pull it together, Aoi!'

He told himself, slapping both palms on his cheeks to gather resolve and reason.

Suzuna had long finished her bath, having been done in less than a few minutes, and was currently at his room dressing. Luckily, halfway through her bath, he was able to peel his eyes from her underwear in enough timeframe as to have her clothes clean and waiting in his room.

He took a mental note to thank Satsuki-san later.

If washing her clothes was difficult, fixing tea without dazing is even more so.

Images flood his mind like a t.v. being flipped through multiple channels, only the programs are limited to what he saw in the last few minutes – her soaking wet clothes giving shape to her petite figure, her cute belly button, her adorable form coated by that fluffy robe, her sweet smile as she shyly accepts her hospitality, her white panties –

_Her panties._

_Her panties._

_Her panties._

'Crap!'

He couldn't even hold the tray without shaking. This would very humiliating.

In order to calm himself, he decided to think of something else, so he closed his eyes and began to thoroughly examine his mind. Of course, who's to argue that the only being his mind could conjure at the moment is that darn girl?

_I'll settled with that – Suzuna, in her casual clothes, never mind the panties, just plain simple clothes, they don't even have to be cute. Wait, Suzuna in clothes without panties? Focus dude, you can do this. Anyway, Suzuna, casually, and COMPLETELY clothed, sitting on a bench, biting on a croquette, and me walking towards her. She looks up, and smiles at me…_

_Smiles at me…_

_Smiles at me…_

Well, that certainly took care of the shaking. If only it didn't make him blush and weak with some strange, helpless surrender his heart suddenly took over the thoughts of her.

He sighed. And then stared into nothing. A good two minutes, and he sighed again.

"Suzuna…"

Another deep-seated breath of a sigh, followed by a lazy mention of her name. The sides of his lips were curving up again.

'This is going anywhere.'

He cleared his throat, gave himself one big slap, and ensured that his scowl was back on his face.

Some other, more serious concerns were getting into him, like how the rain outside doesn't seem to be stopping, and that his stupid aunt actually forgot to bring her own umbrella, and knowing Misaki-chi, relying too much on the weather forecast, she'd make the same mistake.

He was thinking heavily on those details while walking up the stairs, tray finally steady in hand, a hot teapot and two glasses, matched by a plate of cookies in its content.

"Suzuna, are you done?" he called, reaching the door.

He was hearing mumbling sounds inside, but for certain he heard a 'yes'.

She should be done by now, anyway – he thought.

"I'm coming in."

He placed a hand in middle of the bottom of the tray, and used another to turn the knob. His ears then picked-up her voice, and then he realized her 'yes' was actually addressed in a phone conversation.

"Um, I brought tea."

He didn't have the same caution he had in the bathroom. He just went straight, not even suspecting her unconfirmed answer to his call. His eyes almost fell off at what he saw.

"Yes, I'm okay, onee-chan. I'm at Aoi's place. What? No, we're not like that. But he's a nice person, just like Usui-nichan said. What do you mean funny? No, he won't. Aoi is a decent person, who wouldn't look at me like that. Besides, he always says I'm not cute. You sometimes talk weird, ne-chan. I'll drop by Maid Late, let's go home together. Ja ne."

By the time she was done, Aoi had already been standing there for a full five minutes – more than enough time to soak up all the glory her half-naked back side has to offer.

Clad with only her white panties and a tank top, Suzuna was too busy talking to her sister that she didn't notice that someone has already been enjoying himself, and was literally mouth-gapped with droll travelling down the side of his grinning lips.

His mind has shut itself the moment he took note of those long legs of hers that went on for an eternity, marred only by pale, jagged line of a scare, but even that wasn't enough to ruin the perfection of her skin.

Her top didn't go full down her body. It left enough space at her back to see the curve of her spine, and the unreasonably slim waistline. He would actually call her thin, if he didn't find her butt so round, so finely curved, and looking oh so soft.

His eyes slowly ran up and down her body in a lecherous fashion, as if imprinting the image clearly in his head.

Suzuna blinked at him, still trying to process the situation, consequently looking cute.

And that's when Aoi noticed it – her lose hair, flowing beautifully. It's one of the Ayuzawa lures, those long silky strands that seemed as though they were actually liquid, tucked together, waving by the neck, and spreading out, just past her shoulders.

Her black hair, damp and shinning like that, looks like a gown of some sort, and it mesmerized the boy.

He had never seen her with her hair down like that. It tore away all perverted ideas in his head, and he found himself just looking at her, staring at her eyes, round, big and confused, but still lovely. The blackness of her hair seemed to have accented the color of her orbs, and like polished gems it seemed to have glistened. Aoi's mind could only make one word for it.

'Pretty.'

Unfortunately, Suzuna did not chose the same word to describe him.

Her face turned red, eyes growing narrow with embarrassment, and although it's still a far cry from what you would call a facial expression, it is in fact an expression of shyness.

"Hentai." She whispered.

That seemed to have brought him back to the real world, and when it did, the first thing he could do, out of sheer humiliation, was scream, as if he was the one being lusted over, and stumble out the room.

Remarkably, the tray remained stable in his hand even as he closed the door behind him.

His body slid down the wooden flat, tray falling on his lap. He placed a hand on his cheek, and found that grin again.

He took a few moments replaying the perverted contents, with blood gushing out of his nose.

It was too much stimulation even for a 15 year old.

Still, over all lower faculties, there was this genuine happiness inside – as if all the worries and insecurities last night and early this morning were all for naught.

* * *

He knocked, clearly letting himself be heard this time.

"It's okay, Aoi, I'm done."

Her voice, blank as a robot, still sounds so lovely – he thought.

He peaked through the door, tray still hand, tea still warm.

As understandably as it is that he is going through some radical changes, he still felt guilty for taking advantage of the situation.

"You sure?" he asked timidly.

Like a guilty puppy, his eyes turned contrite at the girl. Suzuna was standing in the middle of the room, awkwardness apparent on her crumpled face, displaying uncharacteristic discomfort.

She was fidgeting from where she stood, knees tightly pressed against each other.

'What? I haven't done anything yet!'

Then her eyes turned sharp and shot right through him.

The effect was instantaneous- a cold chill running up his spine with a looming cloud of death hanging over his head.

"Pervert." She said coldly, softly, and then turned red.

"What did you say?"

He shoved her intimidation away and stomped inside his own room, slamming the tray on a desk and rocking the contents.

"Pervert." She said again, no longer red. She seemed to have composed herself better than him, and quicker too.

Of course, he couldn't retaliate.

"Shut up!" he simply said, standing in front of her, desperately ignoring the scent of a newly bathed Suzuna.

"That's the reason why you forced me into your house, isn't it? So you can take advantage of me."

"What?! Of course not! You were the one soaking under the rain! Besides, who in his right mind would want to take advantage of such an un-cute girl like you?!"

Her face didn't change. On the contrary, he felt like hitting himself for throwing that insult he knows she doesn't deserve.

But Suzuna handles insults well, and she begins this by doing what she does best – keeping calm, cold, and apathetic.

"But you were staring at me." she said.

"No I wasn't!" he yelled back.

"Yes you were. You were even drooling."

There was no escaping that one.

"Tch, fine!"

"Then you admit you were staring?" she asked.

"Yeah, so what if I was? It's not my fault you're pretty."

That didn't sound right, but for some reason, it felt right, regardless of the aggression in his voice, and the scowl on his face.

But it didn't last long. Soon, the atmosphere became too complicated for both of them.

Her eyes, once blank and unreadable, suddenly turned wide with surprised confusion.

On the other side of the scenario, the boy, realizing what he just said, feared the worst kind of embarrassment, and was looking all over the place, but her face. He had the back of his hand cover his mouth as if he had just said something profane.

If it was, it was the most flowery, sugary kind of profanity Suzuna had heard in her life. For if she was to be truly mindful of herself, she would realize that this was the first time anyone had called her pretty.

"The tea's getting cold." He said weakly, finding no other escape from the scene, and deciding to just create a new one.

"Oh, right. Sorry for the trouble."

"I told you, it's no trouble at all."

Aoi walked towards his table where the tray was waiting, and began blending a cup for her. He turned, and saw that she was smiling at him.

For a moment, he allowed himself the luxury of staring at her again, but he didn't want to be teased a second time.

"Hey," he called, while pulling the chair for the table, "sit here, I'll dry your hair."

"Eh?"

"You'll get chills if you go out with your hair still wet." His face was blushing again, but not as volatile as before. This was a serene kind of excitement, a refreshing rush of blood of a boy who is happy beyond words, for having said the right thing, albeit unintentionally.

"Please?" he asked.

Her body passing allowed him a good waft of her scent – that body wash, she probably used the cheapest one she could find in bathroom shelves. Still, the smell is so good his face followed her body like a dog.

'I'm not a pervert! I'm not a pervert! I'm not a pervert! I'm not a pervert!'

Then, as she finally sat on the chair right in front of Aoi, Suzuna gather her hair and pulled it to the side, exposing to the boy the delicate skin on the back of her neck.

'Fine! I'm a pervert! But only a little, and only if it's her.'

He realized there's no used fighting it.

"It's, oolong." He warned, fearing that she might have preferred something else.

'Crap, I should've asked what she wanted first!'

"B-bear with it." he ordered, unable to control the quiver in his panicky voice.

"It's fine." She said, taking the cup from Aoi's hand and slowly drinking the warm, relaxing liquid. Her face turned calm and flustered from the warmth. The boy concluded she's okay with it, not that she's picky with anything at all.

'God, she smells so good.'

He was fighting the urge to just plunge his face on her head, and he was doing a poor job at it. Her hair didn't smell special, but it was a wonderful scent, with that proximity and his mind still slightly on the perverted side.

He pulled the comb out of his pocket and then started running it through her hair, careful not to let his hand linger too much on her strands. He maneuvered a blower with another hand and began to dry her hair.

Suzuna was quietly munching on the cookies and was looking at Aoi through the mirror on his desk. This the boy noticed, and it made him blush.

With the blower having serve its purpose, he extended the service by just running the comb through her hair, reaching pass her shoulders, occasionally tucking some strands behind her ear. He noticed that everytime he did so, her neck would squeeze down a bit.

'Ah, she's sensitive.' He mused happily.

"Are you mad at me?"

"…a little." He answered gently.

"Sorry, for kissing Usui-onichan."

"That's not what I'm upset about, idiot! It's you standing under the rain!"

"Oh. How's the comb?" Suzuna asked, taking in another cookie.

It was cute how she nibbled on it, Aoi thought.

"It's plain, and boring, and normal – just like you." he said strongly, "I might even consider returning it for a refund.

"No return, no exchange."

She said, and then stuck out her tongue at the boy, who in turn gave her a grin.

For a while, they stayed like that, both seemingly content.

Aoi concluded he liked Suzuna's hair better. Her hair is a bit wavier than Misaki-chi's. He secretly placed the comb back in his pocket and just let his fingers glaze through her soft cresses.

"H-hey, it's, um, getting late." He hesitated, wondering still how he was to offer it, but just said what was in character. "Stay over for dinner."

"Huh? But it's just half pass five." She said, licking her fingers of crumbs.

"Oh."

The clock on his wall showed the same. And to make matters worse, the rain has also stopped.

'Darn it.'

"And I did promise oneechan I'd pick her up from the café." She said, flipping her phone up.

He couldn't afford to ask for more. The day had been generous in its own way, and he got to see Suzuna and her hair lose. (and her body wet, and her long legs bare, and her panties, and her round butt, etc.)

But the spoiled kid felt like it's still not fair. The cloud looked like it would rain forever, but now it just stopped. He felt like throwing a tantrum in the room. Fortunately, he chose not to, and just made do with a childish pout with cheeks puffed-up.

Then he heard a click.

He looked down at the girl and found her closing her phone, apparently aimed at him a split second back. He didn't get it, because Suzuna was quick enough to take a picture of his cutely crumpled face without him noticing it.

"But maybe, some other time, we could-"

"How about this Saturday evening?" he asked, getting excited all of a sudden.

Suzuna had a slightly startled look on her otherwise blank face.

"I'm free, I guess."

"Great! Then come to Maid Late! We'll have dinner there. Better yet, I'll pick you up!" He said with a huge smile, overcome with excitement. Nervousness and hesitation has completely left him, and only an innocent longing was there.

Her own face then turned mischievous, lips slightly curving upward.

"Aoi-chan, are you asking me on a date?" she asked.

"Of course not! It's going to be a party."

"Oh, I see." Her head dropped, though her expression didn't change in the slightest, save for the lips that catered a smile a second ago, "Is it fancy?"

That struck him with an idea. "Yes it is!" he said, "It's going to be a fancy dinner, so you better dress up."

He could feel his heart racing. Everything seems to be falling into place.

"But I don't have a dress, and I don't think I'll be able to buy one."

Aoi's face was now literally just one huge grin. It was disturbing for Suzuna, mainly because she didn't understand what he was so happy about. Normally, he'd be ranting on how unfeminine she is for not having to extenuate her charm to the world, or for not being able to suit his taste of what is cute. This time, her lack of amenities seemed to have given him some sort of happiness.

"Wait here!" the boy asked, placing both hands on her shoulders, and then running off.

He went rummaging through his closet, throwing all other things and exposing all those dresses he had made.

"Um, here, I'll give this to you." he pulled out the blue dress from the closet, and showed it to Suzuna.

The girl was awed at how beautiful it was.

"Whoa!"

"You can wear it, if you think it's not horrible, or you can sell it, if you think it is."

"It's beautiful, Aoi."

"Whatever! Just take it!"

He couldn't be more happy. Everything seemed to have fallen into place, except for the part where she couldn't have dinner with him tonight.

But he couldn't afford to have her compliment the dress, or him, for that matter, otherwise he'd burst with joy. The blush on his face has already overpowered him, though, but there's nothing he can do about that.

The girl walked over, and the boy turned his head further away to hide the redness. Suzuna felt like taking his picture again, but that would be too mean of her.

She slowly traced the wonder silk feel of the dress, smiling gently as she did so, amazed at how beautiful it is, but even more amazed that it was being given to her.

"You're giving it to me?" she asked, looking up at his taller form.

"Duh."

'I made it for you.'

She blinked at him, still a bit confused, but also feeling warm inside. Aoi stared back at her, trying to understand what she was thinking right now, but failing miserably, because at that close and with her hair lose like that, he found her too adorable. (overkill?)

"Thank you." She whispered.

He smiled at her. He had to. He felt that she, standing in front of him, being her apathetic, pretty self, deserves at least that much.

* * *

"Are you sure you'll be fine by yourself?"

Suzuna suppressed a smile successful, finding it adorable how he struggles to hide his nice, worried side.

"I'll be fine, Aoi."

"Pull the coat closer. It's cold outside." He said, but he was the one who pulled the sides of the coat he lend her.

"Okay."

She just let him fix her.

"Don't stop to buy any croquettes, okay?"

"It's almost dinner time. There'd be no need for that."

"If it is, then why did you refuse to have dinner with me?!"

She didn't know if she should feel guilty, for having denied him that, or happy, that he was being unusually honest.

That childish pout on him is just too cute, she thought.

"Because we'll be having dinner on Saturday, remember?" she said.

"Oh, okay."

Suzuna secured the paper bag in her hand.

"Thank you for taking me in..."

"Hmp, maybe next time you wouldn't be dumb enough to go through the rain."

"…and for calling me pretty."

Her heart was skipping, and so was his, but the rhythm was different. She was clearly pleased, while he was completely embarrassed.

"What?! I didn't call you pretty at all. Or if I did, I just meant that, that…"

"That what?" she asked expectantly.

"Argh! Never mind! Turn around already!"

He forced her shoulders to turn until her back was on his front. Her slim, smooth-looking neck was there again, but he managed to ignore it immediately.

"What are you doing?" she asked, feeling his gentle fingers work through her hair again.

"I won't let you go out looking like that."

"Like what?"

"Like the un-cute girl that you are."

Aoi didn't bother answering anymore. He just continued returning her hair to their tied up state, afraid that others might discover how beautiful she actually is.

'Who knows what they'd do?' he asked himself.

"Thanks, I guess." She said, not really knowing what else to tell him.

Suzuna felt the breeze on his neck again, now that her hair is tied to their twin tails. Following the breeze, her skin felt a pair of careful, gentle hands, cover her ears. The world became silent, as Aoi prevented her from hearing his next few words.

"Yeah, I did say you're pretty, and that's because you are."

He rubbed his nose on the top of her head and gave her a gentle push to usher her forward down the street. They were already outside, and the only thing left to do is to simply part ways, since she insisted that he don't come with her anymore, lest the rain catch him on the way back.

Suzuna turned her head at him in question. "Did you say something?"

"Yeah, I said next time you should bring ear muffs."

Her face turned into a mild grimace, "I'm not that sensitive to the cold, you know."

"Whatever, just go home already."

He smiled at him, and she smiled back, and that was that.

She was already a block far when Aoi yelled his last instruction.

"Suzuna; don't let your hair lose like that again…"

She waived, not taking his words seriously. Good thing too, because Aoi didn't want her to hear the rest as he mellowed down his voice.

"…or other guys might end up liking you, as I have."

It took time, and a lot of stupid, awkward moments before he realized that much. He was yet to decipher the details if Usui and Misaki had a play in this, especially Usui's horrible achievement of teeding him up. But for now, it was painfully clear, that as much as he was yet to completely resign himself to how charmed he actually is towards Suzuna's beauty, he could at least admit that he likes her, perhaps beyond what he already understands.

He kept eyes on her form, fading behind the subtle blanket of fog forming all around them, giving her a watchful gaze and wishing her safety.

Unfortunately, his eyes weren't the only ones watching her. Another pair was looking far towards the same girl.

The owner, perfectly blended in the shadows of the tree in front of Aoi's house, breathes the name of its next target, salivating with hungry, hideous perversion.

"…SU-ZU-NA-CHAN…"

* * *

_To be continued... _

_Hope you don't the last concept here too sickening_


End file.
